The Blackjack Tales: The Titan's Maze
by owlcat92
Summary: Sequel to the Blackjack Tales. Rated T because the books get more violent to I'll have to write more violent stuff WILL NOT BE TOO VIOLENT, though . - Owl.
1. Chapter 1

**Whoohoo! The sequel's Prologue! YES!**

**Right, but, before we go on, I need to say:**

**We now have a DeviantART account, and so far we have four pictures of The Blackjack Tales.**

**Our name: OwlWingedHorses. Technically it's just mine, but Cat may use it once in a while.**

**Please look us up!**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and my words**

* * *

**_Prologue_**

_I do _not _deserve that look, you know._

You nearly killed Annabeth.

_Hey, she kicks; she gets what's coming to her._

Annabeth—

_What are you— OW! Hey, it's not my fault that you kept kicking like there was no tomorrow, you can just _ask! _C'mon boss, tell her._

. . . She says she doesn't care, and that you're in serious trouble now.

_Hello? You're dealing with _me.

She still doesn't care. She's going to . . . how did she put it . . . _get her dagger._

_Are you trying to scare me?_

No.

_I think you are._

Well, I'm not.

_That's a relief, because you were doing a rubbish job, anyway—OW!_

What I'm _actually _trying to do is get you talking about the next story. First problem: title.

_Well, duh. Call it _the Titan's Maze.

_The—Titan's—Maze . . . _got it.

_You're a slow writer._

Do _you_ want to do this?

_No, but I want you to hurry up._

Gee, that's nice . . . okay, let's start.

_Hello again, readers! This is Blackjack back with the next adventure! The one where boss needed more help than usual . . . so, sit back, and watch the words on the page._

That's a bit brief.

_Look, the story won't be, so be quiet _please.

Fine. Right, let's go.

* * *

**Whoohoo! Whoopee! **

***Dances around***

**We have the first chapter here at last!**

**Actually it's the same day as the Epilogue of the Blackjack Tales . . . but ANYWAY!**

**Please be patient! You never know how long it might take to get into the groove!**

**At the moment, I have NO IDEA what to do, so I may need to READ UP!**

**Before I go:**

**THE MARK OF ATHENA'S OUT IN 11 DAYS!**

**-Owl**


	2. Chapter 2

**Why, dear friends, I have returned!**

**That was random . . . anyways, we have CHAPTER 2! I'm kinda at a loose end . . . I need to read TTC again . . . 9 freakin' days until the MoA's out! That's a number that's less than two digits!**

**Have any of you checked DeviantART for us? Well, it would be kinda nice . . . even if I KNOW that I suck at some things, but anyway, I like drawing, I like horses, I like wings, so drawing pegasi clears up that bit.**

**Okay, enough blabbering! You only came on this to read CHAPTER 2! So onwards!**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and words**

* * *

**_Chapter 1: Rehabilitation_**

One thing you should know before this _really _starts; it was a painful process.

Yes, I had that poem thingy that helped a bit, and Nyx's advice, but every time I managed to get better I would remember something . . . something painful that happened on that ship. Every time I thought of one of those . . . I would stop.

Guido and Porkpie tried to hide it, but I knew they had no idea who I was at first. Yeah, when I was walking down the hill at Opal, they looked up, at her, and not even noticing me. They just muttered something like, "poor guy". That was one thing that made me stop: they didn't know me.

I guess they wouldn't. I was just a skinny black Pegasus. A Pegasus covered in scars . . . and many _other_ things. Why should they recognise me? I left them with an image of me as a reckless idiot that wasn't afraid of anything.

It was only when I came to my senses and said, "Hey guys," that they looked up. Then they were shocked. How could I get so bad in one year? How could one ship full of monsters reduce me to . . . _that? _

I tried to focus on good things: my mum recognised me; Chiron did, too, and so did my buds after that line.

But that didn't shake the memories from my head. Luke once decided to freak me out by telling me that if I returned no one would recognise me nor want to. I couldn't help but remember that.

Then there was the fact that Opal recognised me. I didn't say anything, well, I did, but she knew it was me. How the buds I known for my whole life didn't I don't know. [Yeah, start apologising _now, _why don't you, Porks?]

I was a wreck, I really was. There was nothing expected about my arrival apart from that it shouldn't happen. I was meant to be dead. I didn't know if I _should _be alive. I understood what Chiron was saying about his problem with 'should' be alive. He'd trained so many heroes to go to their death, sent them off, lived longer than he should, and lived a more painful live than he should—so _should _he still be alive?

I remembered when death had looked really tempting in my time on the cruise ship. I would wake up in the middle of the night, after dreaming that I was standing at those doors, and that I chose to take that step forward. I always went for a walk after that.

It was summer, so there were kids everywhere. No one wanted to ride me—they never did, but now it was because they saw me as something to pity. I didn't want pity. I wanted to get better.

I wanted help.

[Geez, is it so hard to keep your mouth shut, guys? Stop laughing!]

Yes, I wanted help, okay? Because I _wanted _to get better, I wanted to be the same.

Except I never had the guts to ask for it.

I was standing near the stables, waiting for Opal. She seemed to know that I wanted help, so she did help me. She _tried _to, but . . . nothing seemed to get through to me.

Every time I flew, I flew because it made me feel like I was leaving the memories behind, it made me feel like I could outrun them . . . so I was afraid to stop. I was afraid to let them catch up and put me through those scenes again.

Opal said that I was faster than she remembered. I left her behind so early it was obvious, but everything that I used to fly like had changed: I used to use the winds to my advantage; now I just ploughed straight through them. I seemed to be convinced that I could show the winds who was boss, so that I could prove my strength at them, I could prove it against my memories.

[Hey, can you _shut up? _This is a very hard time I was going through. Porkpie, do me a massive favour . . . shut up—you too Guido!]

That Percy guy—he actually _remembered me_—[Don't get it into your ego that I'm complimenting you, okay?]—which was good. It was easier to talk to him than I'd actually thought. In fact the whole 'your life will forever be entwined with a hero's' thing was actually really easy.

I thought I owed him for that bust from the ship—I _really _did. So, I guess the 'boss' thing started when I felt the way I did. I had no doubt that this kid had seen some dense stuff, and yet he still acted and looked like he felt fine. So, his name became boss . . . or Kelp Head. [OW!]

I agreed to do favours for him. I don't know if he found it irritating or not, but it helped me. So, when he actually found out that even Silena wouldn't ride me . . . after he talked to her after a pegasi-riding lesson . . . she was like, 'don't! It'll kill you, seriously!'

So, naturally, he wanted to try and ride me. [Mwahahaha! What the— hey, it's the truth! You can_not _deny that!]

I never actually thought that just one flight with the supposed 'hero' on my back would clear up everything.

* * *

**Whoohoo! Chapter 2 . . . well, really chapter 1 anyway . . . **

**I just thought I'd say, you know those things where you're on a webpage, like I was on Google+, and you see the MOST RANDOM person adding you? That was weird.**

**Anyway, I just needed to tell you, because it makes me feel better. *Grins***

**Until the next chapter,**

**-Owl**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yes!**

**I'm sorry I made you all wait on this, but I had to get a plan figured out. **

**But, all that aside, we have *drumroll* CHAPTER THREE!**

**And now I have posted the first picture of Opal on our DeviantART account. Please tell me what you think of the artwork in the reviews, because . . . well, it makes everyone happier! The only bad thing you can't do on DeviantART is comment as a guest, which can suck, but please look at it, and tell us what you think through the Fanfiction reviews!**

**And guess what? IT'S LESS THAN A WEEK UNTIL THE MARK OF ATHENA'S OUT!**

**ohmygodsohmygodsohmygodsohmy godsohmygodsohmygodsohmygods ohmygodsohmygodsohmygodsohmy godsohmygodsohmygodsohmygods ohmygodsohmygods**

**Anyway, chapter 3!**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and my words**

* * *

**_Chapter 2: Good As New . . . Nearly . . ._**

For the first time in maybe a year, I was enjoying flying _because _of the feeling.

I didn't think of it as a way to escape my memories, I was thinking of it as something that I enjoyed, that I thought of as a challenge, a challenge that I had to overcome.

I had to admit, even with boss's comments like, 'oh gods, don't do that or I'll lose my lunch,' or the 'geez, Blackjack, what was your problem of you fly like _this?'_

I was grinning—a real grin. I hadn't done that in so long. So, naturally, I got cocky.

[I thought that even _you_ would've seen that coming, boss.]

The summer thermals were still around, and for the first time I didn't plough through them. I tilted my wings enough to let the air catch beneath them. The hot air shot me upwards, and boss whooped—[You did, I don't forget these things]—and then tucked in my wings and corkscrewed towards the sea.

I pulled up at the last second and flew towards the cliff. The sea was pretty wild today, so the winds that were throwing everything up from where the sea smashed into the rocks was particularly fun to ride on.

I was pulling out of the dive when the air shot me upwards. Then, as I was thrown up, I folded my wings halfway, and then felt a second of weightlessness. I felt like a mortal horse being tossed around.

One thing about me: I am not in _any _way mortal.

I gave one huge flap with my wings and then half folded them again as I dived towards the ground. Boss was an idiot, because he was gripping my man with one hand and then punched the rapidly rising sky as we dove. "I have _never _had a ride like that!" He yelled. [Yes, you did.]

"Well, you haven't met me yet," I cried. As the ground sped towards us, I pulled in my wings until I pressed them against my sides and did a corkscrew with _just _the amount of spin on it to send us upwards.

As we did I unfurled my wings and then flew normally for a bit. Boss rearranged his seat and then went back to grinning. "How fast can you go?"

"Depends," I said. "If you want the fastest thing I can get—which is probably really, really dangerous—pretty damn fast, but if you just want a sprint . . . well, faster than you can say 'Gods Almighty'."

"Well, I might as well do the dangerous one."

I smiled and glanced back at him. "Everyone kind of expects that to come from you," I said, but he wanted speed, which I was more than happy to give him.

I pumped my wings to shoot me upwards. I could feel the air getting thinner and the winds and thermals becoming weaker. I flew as high as I could before my chest started to hurt. "Right," I said, looking down. We were at aeroplane height. The clouds were far, far below us.

"Ready?"

He tried to respond, but I had a feeling he was having trouble breathing this high.

Well, we were going to fix that, weren't we?

[Hey, you have to admit that was fun. You see? And— oh, dear, please, please, please tell your girlfriend to put that knife away. Hey, I ain't afraid of much, but an angry daughter of Athena? Comes around fifth. Right, well, um . . . nice knowing you, boss. . . . Aha! . . . Yes! Now, please, please leave—me—alone, okay? ]

I took one last look around me, before I tucked in my wings and plummeted to the ground.

The thing about diving from so high up, is you realise all the things that could go wrong halfway down. You could forget to pick yourself up—ouch—or maybe stop the wrong way—double ouch—or there's the minor thing that you could probably die. But, it was for the sake of fun.

In other words, I was more scared of making a weird noise with the air surging past me than I was of dying. Quite ironic, really.

I was falling like a missile at the ground. I could see the pegasi looking up to gawk at us. I saw Opal, kind of hard to miss her, but she was coming closer every second.

I couldn't hear anything. My ears popped.

As I could see the dimmest of her face, I could see she was thinking something like, _good gods, is he committing suicide? _Which, if I hadn't started liking flying again, I might have tried.

Actually, I hadn't thought of that, I didn't realise dying from impact was common.

When we were about thirty feet from the ground, and boss was holding on like he was praying to Hades, I opened my wings halfway to take us in a curve.

I half opened me wings as the g-force kicked in.

The ground was twenty feet away.

We started to level out.

Ten feet.

I angled my wings sharper. We were three feet from the ground and then we surged up into the sky. That's the thing, usually most flyers—bad ones—just open their wings and hover. Not me.

Naturally, I take the more dangerous approach that hurts less. Well, if you died it would hurt, I guess, but still.

As the sky stretched out in front of me boss whooped, I would've too, but I was still kind of winded. I glided above Long Island Sound, getting my breath back.

"Fast enough?" I asked as I glanced back at him. He was grinning like a madman. "Yeah, I think so."

I have to say he doesn't bother blabbering. [Ouch, man, ouch. Hey, it's all true. I kind of think the whooping was cool, but since you're so _boring—_hey, if horses could whoop, I would too. You never realised? No, we just neigh or something, but if you're talking to someone who's not a horse it sounds really strange, like, 'I neighed in joy'. Dude, who says _that_?]

I flew back to camp and landed. "Fun," I said flatly. There were still pegasi gawking at me. I let boss jump off. The pegasi were frozen in front of me, their mouths open. "What? Got a problem with life-threatening stunts? That's new."

I could hear Percy sniggering as he walked away. I saw Porkpie among the pegasi. "You . . ." he stammered. "You . . . you were faster than you've ever gone . . ." his eyes were wide like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. I'd be more careful on what I was saying, really.

"Where is he?" came a voice. Uh-oh, I thought.

Opal popped from the crowd. "Just what do you think you were doing, Blackjack?"

She stormed towards me. I was trying to back away, but she _was _kind of angry. I backed into the tree. She glared up at me. "Well? What's your excuse? Trying to get yourself killed?"

I could see that she didn't want to say 'killed', but she did because I could tell she'd been scared. I actually wasn't smart enough to realise that suicide was an option, but was not going to tell her that.

"Did you think that . . . that doing that would solve everything?"

"Um . . ."

"Do you care about your own safety?"

"Um . . ."

Hey, it was kind of hard to come up with a smart aleck answer right then, not to mention she was about a foot shorter than me, which just made it weirder.

She looked away. "Did you think that there are people out there that _care _about what happens to you?"

When I didn't answer, she whipped back to me again. "Did you?"

"Look, Opal, I'm—"

"Don't give me an 'I'm sorry'!" she snapped. Hey, I was just being an idiot, what's so out of the ordinary about that?

"Okay, fine! I was . . ." what was I going to say? _I was being an idiot, _gee, that would get me _really _far. _I was enjoying myself? _

"I was flying again." I said. I waited for her to do something. Opal looked away. It seemed like she was holding back tears. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I was flying _because_ I was having fun. I was flying the way I used to, I was . . . enjoying it. I mean, would it be me if I didn't do something like that?"

Opal kept her eyes fixed on the next to me. "No, it wouldn't."

Then she took a deep breath. "Just . . . just _don't you dare do that with no warning again!"_

My ears rang. Ouch.

She began to walk away. "Hey, uh, Opal?"

"What?" she looked back for a moment. "What do you want?"

I shifted my weight from foot to foot. ". . . Would you like a race?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Where to?"

"I don't know . . . New York?" I asked hopefully. New York had some good memories. Road blocks, traffic jams.

"No."

I looked at her, bewildered. "What do you mean, _no_?"

"I mean I'll race you to the stables."

"Wha—"

"_Three, two, one, go!"_

She took off before I could register what she was doing. "Hey!" I yelled. "No fair!"

I jumped into the sky and flew after her.

* * *

**YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! Blackjack's not depressed anymore! Blackjack was really OOC in the last few chapters . . . but anyway, we can get back into gear now!**

**Sadly, we have a few filler chapters to go, but then we can jump into the Titan's Curse!**

**And the issues about the riding a Pegasus through a drive-thru. Hmm . . .**

**I'm going to be really annoying and ask you to look at the DevantART account again . . . if you don't now our name, it's OwlWingedHorses. Sadly, I chose it. Meh.**

**Okay, until then,**

**-Owl**


	4. Chapter 4

**Right, the bad thing about saving these documents is when you reach the limit and you haven't realized and then you submit this document you spent like ten minutes typing the A/N in and then it says it can't save and it's lost.**

**How annoying is that?**

**Right, I am going to start a list of things, because I just feel like doing a list today, you know?**

**So, I am now writing this all again for the second time:**

**1. OHMYGODSOHMYGODSOHMYGODSOHMY GODS THE MARK OF ATHENA IS OUT TOMORROW! *Starts to Hyperventilate* *Gets copy of the Son of Neptune opened on the "Don't Miss The Next Addition, The Mark of Athena" page and uses it like a paper bag* *Begins to breath properly again* Whoohoo. Anyway, YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!**

**2. Sadly, no one has sent us a review saying what they think of the DeviantART account. If you have looked, please tell us what you think! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE do! It would mean HEAPS. If you don't remember the name, it's OwlWingedHorses. Cat has't used it yet, so it's just my stuff at the moment - pictures from the Blackjack Tales! If you're reading this, please, before you review, look us up, have a look, and then review with what you think of it. **

**Sorry, you didn't have to hear that rant. Well, it was more of a whine, but anyway.**

**3. I am planning on putting Tempest in the next story in this series, and I plan on putting him in a position that causes quite a bit of hatred between him and Blackjack, which would add to the fact of the cover of the MoA. If I say anything about it, I will be giving away spoilers, so I can say no more than please tell me what you think of that idea.**

**Well, I can say that was the longest A/N I have EVER written, so yeah. If you read that, I love you.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs and my words.**

* * *

**_Chapter 3: My View on the Chariot Races_**

The answer to that: the highlight was Annabeth kissing boss.

[Oh my— gods, what's your problem?!]

Yeah, it was only on the cheek, but _that _changed after a while. [Just _stop doing that!_]

Yes, you see a bunch of horses running around with a chariot. So? It's not like they can fly. I mean, if you _can_ fly, why watch horses _run? _Is that even worth explaining?

So, yeah; that's why. That was quite funny—boss went completely red, and all the kids were cheering because of that—why did it take them so long to figure out that they liked each other?!

[Look, you can go agro all you want, but I do not care. You know it's true, and I refuse to say anything else but that. I never lie. What about—? No, that I won't lie about either; I just won't tell you.]

So, there I was circling the track with my buds. This time it wasn't doing the commentary—which I was really peeved about, seeing as I'm such an awesome commentator—[hey, I did one for Olympus! On _you_!]—but they insisted. Which they never do at all, but still, it was kind of funny to hear Opal laughing so hard she was falling around.

"Why does that kid get to go with the girl from Cabin 6?" asked Guido, looking at boss and Annabeth.

"I don't know," I said simply. "It's obvious they like each other."

Opal laughed. "Got that right!"

I hadn't asked Guido about what happened to Jade. I wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about it.

The race came to an end, and the one and only boss had won. And then there was the fact he had Annabeth on the chariot with him. She probably was the main factor that they won. [Hey, I'm sorry, but it's probably true! What the Hades, man, you have serious anger problems! I did _not _have depression problems, thank you very much. What the— let's just keep going, okay?]

The race ended, etc., etc. So, our group decided to have a race. Why? I still have no idea, to this day. It was just a bolt around the camp. Guido decided to do the countdown.

"Three," he said. We all crouched.

"Two."

We opened our wings.

"One."

We coiled ourselves up.

"GO!"

And we zoomed off.

Naturally, I was in the lead first; followed by Opal; followed by Porkpie and then Guido.

What I hadn't expected was to be ganged up on.

Opal poured on the speed and came neck to neck with me. Guido and Porks pressed close behind me. Opal winked, "expecting this?"

I grinned. "No, but were _you _expecting _this_?"

I poured on the speed and shot away. I could hear Guido yelling out, "_WHAT?" _I looked back and laughed. "Take that!"

As I looked back, a golden comet streaked by next to me and crashed into me. I had enough time to say, "Hellhound Scat," before it ploughed into me and sent me tumbling.

I smashed into the ground and went rolling. Someone was rolling with me. When we stopped, I muttered, "ouch."

I was on my back, my wings pinned under me. I looked up and saw Opal sprawled over me. She laughed, "_ouch_ all right, Jackie."

She got to her feet. "Awkward," she muttered. I don't know why, but I laughed at that. I got to my feet to see Porkpie grinning and yelling, "I beat the mighty Blackjack!"

"Yeah, well, don't get too comfortable, Porks!"

He laughed Guido came laughing behind him.

It was good to be able to laugh with my buds again.

* * *

I walked back to the stables. Opal trotted ahead of me. "Why are you taking so long? That's not like you?"

In truth, it was because I was thinking about Jade, and how I had failed to help in any way at all.

"I'm thinking," I said.

"Gee, what a shock," she said sarcastically.

"No, I mean . . . I'm going for a walk."

Opal cantered back. "What is it about you and the night?"

"Uh . . ." I don't know why, but I just didn't think that the Blessing of Nyx was something to calmly talk about. "I just find it . . . nice."

She scoffed. "Nice?" she rolled her eyes. "Never mind."

"Hey, at least I'm not obsessed with the sun."

I said in a friendly-bickering way, but she suddenly froze. "I . . . I mean, uh, fine. Just like you . . . I need to go lie down . . ." she turned and walked away, eyes wide. What had I done? I was just commenting on something right?

_Right?_

I watched her disappear into the stables quizzically. Since when did she freak about being associated with sunlight?

I shook my head. Just give her space, I thought. I walked towards the woods. I was about to step into the trees when I saw a shape move through the trees. I strained my eyes to see, and then nearly went into shock as the world seemed to go into reverse.

Well, I just got a . . . sense, I guess. I could _sense _that the light was coming on the trees at just _that _angle, I could see every single leaf—_sense, _sorry—and I could see the shape I was looking at; Guido. [Yeah, take that, I get awesome stuff too.]

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I willed it all away. When I opened my eyes, it was all gone. I let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding. I cantered towards Guido. The night was _my _time of the day. I stepped aside from a bramble, jumped a log. I could just do it without realising. It was like just an automatic movement. I slowed to a trot when I got nearer to Guido. I could see the light shifting on him, outlining the side of his face. He was looking for me.

I slowed to a walk. "Hey, Guides," I said. He jumped back. I willed myself to be seen—it's amazing how easy it is to get the hang of this stuff, I tell you—and he tensed. Then he relaxed. "Don't do that, Blackjack. You scared me."

"Never! Guido—_scared?_"

He shot me a look. Then he seemed to slump. I knew that feeling, like everything inside you was coming apart. "You're thinking about Jade, aren't you?"

Guido looked up at the mention of her name. "Yeah. When—when I left, and found her, she said that I should've listened. She said that now that I'd come back, it would be harder to leave her. And . . . it was. It was _so _hard." He looked up at me. "She said that I should trust you, Blackjack."

"I thought you always did," I said. This wasn't the Guido I knew, the one that I had grown up with.

He smiled. "Yeah, I have, but anyway. She said . . . she said she loved me, as a mum, and that I was so different to when she'd gone. She wished me luck, and told me to go. She said that you were right, and that being wrong is nothing to be ashamed of."

Guido straightened up. "I guess I just needed to tell that to someone."

"Yeah," I said. "Sometimes things are just hard to keep closed up."

"Got that right," he muttered.

Guido and I walked back to the stables. When we got there, I still felt like I needed to go for a walk. Without saying anything, I willed myself not to be seen. Then I cantered off, spread my wings and launched into the sky.

I glided over to the pine tree, and realised with a shock that most of the camp had gathered there. They were all clustered around a girl sitting at the base of the tree. Her eyes were so bright I could see them from up there. She was saying something. I strained my ears.

"I am Thalia," she said. "Daughter of Zeus."

* * *

_Daughter of Zeus . . . Daughter of Zeus . . . _another way of saying that was to say _daughter of the Sky, _or _daughter of the King of Olympus. _And she was right there. She was meant to be dead.

I felt I knew why I had had to go for a flight. I veered away and headed back down to the stables. Thalia was back—she was _alive_. That just was _wrong_. The Golden Fleece . . .

I remembered the story; _and as she died—as! As _she died. She'd never died. She was alive, she always had been. Now, the Golden Fleece had split her from the tree her spirit had lived in for the past five years. She was back.

Something told me this would be interesting.

I landed at a gallop, running into the stables. I slowed to a canter, then a trot, and then at last a walk. I stopped in the centre of the aisle. I had a tingling on the back of my neck, like someone was looking at me. I turned long enough to see a faint shape of a person. _This is where your journey starts, _it said. I recognised it as Nyx's voice.

_This is where it begins. This is where the pain starts, my Night Pegasus. Be ready._

* * *

**Yay! Chapter 3 is up and done! ANother happy thing is we're nearing the end of the filler chapters! Whoohoo! Just one more . . . AND THEN WE CAN JUMP IN TO THE ACTION!**

**Please R&R, which means can please PLEASE look at our DeviantART. *Puppy eyes***

**-Owl**

**(Sorry if my whining was really annoying!)**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm sorry about this ridiculous chapter. I said one more filler chapter the last chapter, didn't I? And then you get this ridiculously short chapter that's so . . . ****_ridiculous _****it's inexcusable.**

**My excuse: I just read the Mark of Athena, and I am the most ****_non-crying _****person you can think of, and the ending made be ****_sob. _****I watched Marley and me and didn't even ****_think _****about crying. No, I'm not an adult. If I was, not crying in a movie like that would be okay, but I am a kid in high school, people, and I didn't even get ****_sad. _****I am so . . . anti emotional it's inhuman, but then I read the last scene . . . *sobs* . . . and I completely broke down!**

**It was just so sad . . . and if I say any more I will get murdered by Cat and all the people who haven't read it yet. Well, not the ****_last _****scene, but the . . . second-last, I think. The second last chapter!**

**Except I can't say anymore, because I want to survive to read the House of Hades - YES THAT'S THE NAME OF THE NEXT ONE!**

**MASSIVE SPOILER: Nico - is - alive.**

**Whoohoo.**

**Anyway, apart from that, Cat, I'm sorry, so don't read the end of this line: STOP RIGHT HERE! (I am psychic, I predicted that, and Cat knows it.)**

**Yes, I was wrong with the reunion, which I was miffed about - no, the reunion's good, just I hate it when I'm wrong.**

**Man, I give away spoilers without thinking! URGH!**

**Oh, well.**

**But the thing is, when I read it, I was like, "I can't write positive stuff for a week now." So yeah, I had to cut this chapter short. I was working on it before I read the MoA, which is why it starts of relatively positive, and then I was like, "Nup, can't write positive at the moment."**

**Which is why I have started writing a House of Hades fanfic. I am a sad, sad person.**

**I am actually. Crying sad.**

**No, despite the ending, I have to admit: BEST ONE YET, RICK!**

**So yeah. This is officially the longest A/N I have EVER written.**

**Enjoy my depressingly short chapter, and I'm sorry about that!**

* * *

**_Chapter 4: Summer Goes, Autumn Comes, and then . . . Autumn goes too . . . and Finally we Get to Winter!_**

_This is where it begins._

That was the thought I was having as I corkscrewed towards the ground. Yeah, that was where the fall, or _rapid descent _as Beckendorf called it. He was trying to make a Pegasus automation, and, sadly, he had decided to use _me _as his model.

That meant that the automation couldn't stand g-force, which meant that I had to come out of this corkscrew the simple and painful way.

[Hey, you do the dangerous thing too, you know. Yes, I was there, remember? When you jumped from St Louis arch? Yeah, I was watching—and laughing.]

Sadly, he was riding me. Had I mentioned I am a hard pegasi to ride? That's why boss is the only one I like being ridden by. We kind of suit each other—mindlessly dangerous.

He was counting down feet, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. When we were twenty feet up, I opened out my wings.

The wings caught the air with such force that they pulled them so hard it felt like they were going to pop from their sockets. Why did I have to do this?

_This is where the pain starts._

Yeah, go figure.

I gave a flap of my wings to keep a steady flight. Beckendorf sat up straighter. "Right . . . must remember to put reinforcing supports on the wing joints.

You think? I was about to yell at him. I saw boss below us. He looked up quizzically. _Are you in a bad mood today, Blackjack? _He asked.

It was kind of handy to be able to communicate that way.

_No, Beckendorf is using me for his automation. So I had to do the painful way._

I could hear him snigger.

_It's not funny! _I snapped. _That's why I did the dangerous way._

_I realised. Would you like me to tell him that you were going to start swearing at him?_

_No, thank you._

He smirked. _You're sure? _

_Yes—I—am—sure, boss._

_All right. I'll be jumping off a cliff or something, then._

_You go do that._

I saw him walk away. What an annoying kid.

[You were okay? Don't give me that look—you know it's true. Look, this is _my _story, which means that it's what _I _was thinking, and I don't lie, do I? Well, except for that . . . anyway, let's get back to work.]

Beckendorf pulled something out of his pocket and began to tap it. I glided leisurely for a few seconds. I hate getting bored.

Beckendorf wasn't done tapping. He wasn't holding on in any way.

Ten seconds, I thought.

Ten . . .

He was still busy.

Nine . . .

Not a care outside the screen of that bronze gadget.

Eight . . .

Man, how slow can you be?

Seven . . .

Ooh, good number.

Six . . .

Hurry up!

Five . . .

I am an exceptional Pegasus.

Four . . .

Except Beckendorf made a mistake; am I a _normally _exceptional Pegasus, am I?

Three . . .

I am an exceptional Pegasus, don't get me wrong.

Two . . .

I've gone through more than I should have. I've had a wing broken, been on the verge of death, broken a spirit and been abandoned. Yeah, I guess I'm exceptional.

One . . .

But one thing about me, that makes me different, is that that would've killed a _normal _exceptional Pegasus.

Now!

I'm a Night Pegasus.

In one huge flap, I sent us shooting upwards. Beckendorf scrambled for a hold. I flapped my wings as hard as I could. I was getting as high as I dared.

I could feel him trembling. Who would've thought he was afraid of heights?

He jammed his gadget away and held on so tight it gave me bruises for the next month.

The clouds were disappearing below us.

"Where are you going, Blackjack?" he almost screamed.

I looked back long enough to say, "Down."

And I dived. Not corkscrewed, I dove like a bullet—straight to the ground far, far below.

Beckendorf was stiff with fear. I was grinning like a lunatic—well, as much as you van grin when hurtling towards the ground. I figured that he should see the other way to pull out of a dive—the _fun _way.

I was going even faster than I had with boss. I figured Beckendorf hadn't had a good scare in a while, and you haven't lived until you've had a good scare.

As we neared it, I pulled us up as the g-force slammed into me. Sure, it wasn't pleasant, but it's like being on a rollercoaster—not that I would know, but I've seen them go around, and it looks like that.

We shot upwards. Beckendorf let out a sigh of relief. Then, in a small voice, he said, "You can put me down now."

People can be so boring sometimes.

The camp ended the day after, which kind of sucked, but somehow I had a feeling that I wouldn't be waiting for action long.

Sometimes, I really hate it when I'm right.

Especially when it involves the Hunters—and the fact I'm friends with boss.

[OW!]

* * *

**There.**

**I know, boring chapter Owl, but then I just couldn't do it!**

**So yeah, the next chapter may or may not be a filler. Haven't decided yet.**

**Do you think I should do a Blackjack Tales for the Heroes of Olympus? Now that blackjack is back I can't resist!**

**Please R&R,**

**Sorry like mad about the spoilers I gave away . . . and while I'm at it I might as well add that Percy still drools in his sleep . . .**

**And sorry about the chapter, and my emotional breakdown . . . which prevented an awesome chapter . . .**

**So please excuse a really weird me and please review!**

**-Owl**


	6. Chapter 6

**Right, I have recovered!**

**Yes, this is a sort-of filler chapter. But it's relatively exciting.**

**Okay, onwards!**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and my words**

* * *

**_Chapter 5: Why is He so Annoying?_**

Yeah, why is boss so annoying? [Because you are is not a reason. You know you probably could've killed Kronos just by talking to him—death in under thirty seconds.]

I thought I'd got rid of him at the end of summer, and then he shows up in winter?

I thought I had a break. [That did _not _need a comment from you, okay?]

The bad thing was, they were in the sun chariot, which Thalia was driving, so things went kind of bad . . . well, crashing into the Canoe Lake isn't that bad, is it?

Boss looked fine about that . . . but the Hunters that were with them? Nope.

Yeah, I said _Hunters. _I honestly hoped I could've just _forgotten _about my experiences with the Hunters. Okay, maybe that's mean, but you can't afford to be in debt to dangerous people!

And trust me, I was in _serious _debt.

Well, I guess I wasn't, because they had shot _me, _but they didn't kill me, which is something to be in debt to a Hunter about. Useful tip: never, ever, go near a mad Hunter. Bad things will happen . . . especially if you're a boy.

The Hunters climbed out of the sun chariot (which for some reason was in the shape of a minivan), and gathered on the bank. Boss had some little kid standing next to him—don't ask me how I know, but there was something dark on that kid. Not like, _evil _dark, just a type of darkness that even a Night Pegasus like me would be wary of. But, looking at the kid, I couldn't guess why. He was just some kid that looked about ten, who was shuffling some cards in his hands. Boss looked like he found him annoying—get a taste of your own medicine! But the thing was, the kid looked kind of . . . mad, like he had eaten something bitter and it would _not _go away. But he looked kind of sad too. I had a feeling I knew what it was.

But I couldn't stay mad at him. He looked so upset I could've told him the world was going to end and he wouldn't have cared. There was only one thing that could've done that—[Yes, sadly I know you, okay? And trust me; I know from experience that times like that could be worse. How? I am _not _going to tell you.]—Annabeth wasn't there. There were about a dozen Hunters, Thalia, boss and the little kid. I remember something about Annabeth going with them. But she was absent from there. Something had happened to her; something bad.

The Hunters didn't wait for Chiron or anything. They just started calmly walking along, with that satyr friend of boss's—Grover—trotting and scrambling alongside them, blabbing on about whatever his daddy goat used to say.

Thank gods for that. Apollo and I have a very special understanding. I mean, god of the sun and a _night _Pegasus. Sure, his sister's fine with it, but that doesn't mean he is.

Thalia, boss and that little kid trudged up to Big House, which left me standing in the shadows of the fairy lights. I guess I'd become a lot more comfortable with shadows. I could see them, they _actually _couldn't see me, unless wanted them to.

Despite that, Opal always managed to find me, muttering things like, "Nice try," or "Maybe next time." I just didn't see how she could see me. Although, at night she never saw me at all. Strangely, it made me start to put things together—or narrow things down to different things and try to _put _them together.

She hated being associated with sunlight

She could see me in the dark in daytime

And there was that time she'd been glowing

Okay, so I was clueless—but those things were almost itching to have something else so that they'd all fit together. It was _so _irritating!

Just at that moment, Opal walked past me, muttering, "Still seeing you," though she was smiling. It always amazed me how she could say _anything _and it would mean anything she wanted it to mean. She might as well have called me a raven and I would've thought of it as a compliment if she'd been smiling. Gods, that was just _annoying. _

When I looked back to Big House, I saw Grover and that little kid leave it. I assumed they were going to the den to go watch the orientation video. You know, boss missed out on that video—which is a shame, because I was in it. Well, I was standing with some other pegasi that were used in the, _At Camp Half-Blood we have pegasi—the mounts used by the gods. _But boss never got to see it; instead he got to go on that quest that I followed him on that screwed up my life pretty darn badly. Of course, it was bound to go badly anyway, but it just had to start _there. _

I began to mutter some not-so-friendly words about gods and their quests. [Yes, I was irritated, okay? Just stop giving me that look!]

I waited for a while, until boss was being practically dragged out by Thalia. They were probably talking about immortal enemies, because boss understood. That is something he rarely ever does—[Geez, man. If you were watching what you were doing you'd be saying the same thing.]—and then they had a brief argument/_talking session _and then boss trudged off down to the cabins to deliver the news about capture the flag.

That was one game I really wanted to stay away with. It's a tradition to have a game when the Hunters are here, which gave me an even greater reason to go away for the night or something. But of course, I wouldn't do that, would I? Now even the Hunters who _didn't _kill me would see me at this camp, where I was supposedly tied to this _hero, _who was a _male, _which would make them _mad. _

My life can really suck sometimes. It could be worse—I could be at the other camp. The one where they're all like formal and stuff. It can be really maddening—and I still hadn't forgiven my 'cousin' for kicking me, so I figured I'd go for the Hunters to kill me instead.

* * *

The day was _boring. _Boss didn't even come and say hi. Dude, the best flyer in the camp—and he doesn't say _hello_? Then I realised—this was boss we were talking about.

To say the Hunters didn't get along well with the campers was the same as saying that the gods had small arguments—the understatement of the century. One Hunter tried to kill an Ares kid with a basketball, a Hermes kid felt the wrath of a well-aimed blunt arrow when he tried to be a peeping Tom—I think that was Travis Stoll . . .—and Zoë was just being Zoë.

Which meant she was nice to me.

Which meant that Opal got mad at me.

Which meant that my life sucked all over again.

I was walking over the snow, because I found it weird how the cold was represented in white, even though white is meant to be a nice, good colour when it's cold, and not many people like the cold—such as me—which I found strange, when I stopped, because someone had aimed an arrow at my head.

"Hello, Zoë," I mumbled. Who else would it be, seriously?

"Greetings, Night Pegasus," she said. "Thou are saddened. Why?"

"Well, I am _bored. _There aren't any good winter winds to fly on," I said, standing up straighter. The whole time I'd been around, since being a captive on Kronos's ship, it never struck me just _how much _I'd grown. I was at least two feet taller than Zoë, who I'd always thought of as quite tall.

When I say taller, horses measure height from the base of their neck, which is the highest point on their back, which can be quite useless when referring to pegasi, because we are a lot smarter that common horses, even if we do refer to ourselves as that. This stuff can really deep-fry your brain sometimes. But, what I'm _trying_—and failing—to say is that I was a _lot _taller than Zoë.

"Thy thought that thou would know better than to be 'bored', as thou claims."

"Well, sorry, but I just found out that one of my best friends is missing, and there's no wind so that I can fly on them to calm down, and it's _cold."_

"Ah, so thou doesn't like the cold."

"Nope. Not in a millennia."

Zoë's face darkened. "You know nothing of millennia."

She slung her bow across her back and walked on, leaving me bewildered.

It should've occurred to me before, but would that be me if I did?

Then someone shoved me. "What the heck was that about?" Opal asked, her voice shrill like it goes when she's angry.

"That was Zoë, who I have a bad history with."

"And I was never told this?" she almost screamed. I didn't want to make her mad, but my past and stuff that involved pain is something I'm touchy about sharing. Even my mother didn't know about the Blessing of Nyx.

"No. I'm sorry, but Zoë stumbled in. I prefer not to talk about it."

Opal glared at me with anger and disbelief. "So you won't tell your best friend?"

Opal was on the edge. I really hated making her mad, but I didn't want to tell her—there were people out there, like Luke, who wanted me dead or enslaved, her knowing would make it worse.

"Look, Opal, this isn't something I can just randomly tell people," I said, hoping it wouldn't backfire.

It backfired.

"What makes you think telling me is _randomly telling _people? What's so important? Is it because you're different? Is there a reason you always go off at night?"

I froze. Every molecule in my body went rigid. ". . . No." even to me I sounded ridiculous. "I mean . . . yeah, it is, okay? And . . . you remember how bad I was when I got back from the Titans, and sharing it only makes it worse, okay?"

Opal looked like I'd just kicked her. "How can sharing it make it worse? What—did—they—do, Blackjack? What's so bad that you refuse to tell anyone?" then something dawned on her. Opal was a smart Pegasus, so I had a bad feeling about this.

"This started before that, didn't it?" she narrowed her eyes at me. The gold in them became painfully bright. "This is _why _the Titans wanted you—not because you're a black Pegasus, this is something else."

"Opal, please. You don't know what you're trying to find out," I was pleading with her, almost begging her to stop asking. If she knew, then bad things would happen to her. The Blessing of Nyx gave me stuff at a price—such as being on the top of the list for the stuff Titans wanted.

"Oh yeah? What do you know about dangerous secrets, Blackjack?" she stood right in front of me, legs slightly splayed so I couldn't get around her. "Do you think you have something worth hiding? Even . . . even from me?"

I could see it hurt that I wasn't sharing. But I couldn't. If I did . . . it would hurt a lot more.

I turned to walk in a different direction. Opal didn't follow. "Oh, but I guess you _buds _know about this? Is this because I'm a filly, Blackjack, because—"

"It is not, okay!" I swung around. I was angry because it was like she was refusing the fact that I wouldn't tell her because I care about her, and that if what Kronos had said was true, her knowing put her at the greatest risk _ever. _

I could feel the air turning colder around me. It was getting darker. Was that me?

"Porks and Guides do _not _know, my mother doesn't know—no one knows except the people who stumbled in. They didn't _want _to know. And . . . and telling you wouldn't help, it would make thing worse. If you knew . . . you wouldn't be safe from the Titans. No one would. _That's _why no one knows. Because I don't want them in danger, okay?"

Opal didn't ask anything. If anything, she looked scared. I realised that the air around me _had _grown darker. I shook it off. Right now I didn't need that.

The air regained its temperature and lightened again. Opal was gaping at me. "I'm sorry," I said. "But you have no idea at all."

I turned and walked away.

* * *

I'd like to say my time at camp got better at the capture-the-flag game.

I guess it did, because even Opal couldn't find me. But no one seeing me meant that I nearly got electrocuted a few times.

"I WAS AT THEIR BASE!" Thalia screamed at boss. It made me feel kind of better. We both got yelled at by girls. "But the flag was gone. If you hadn't butted in, we could've won."

"You had too many on you!" Boss shouted back. Oh dear, bad, bad idea.

"Oh, so it's my fault?"

"I didn't say that."

"Argh!" Thalia yelled, and shoved him. One problem: she's the daughter of Zeus, which means that she can electrocute people. Electricity shot from her fingertips as she pushed him, sending him flying backwards.

Ouch.

Some of the campers down there gasped. I glided down for a closer look.

"Sorry!" Thalia said, turning pale. "I didn't mean to—"

Well, they say Poseidon's known for his temper. Boss looked so mad he could pulverize Clarisse. Bad combination.

A wave erupted from the river, drenching Thalia from head to toe. Boss stood up. "Yeah," he growled. "I didn't mean to either."

That's the bad thing when Annabeth's not around. He gets mad _quite _easily. I really missed Annabeth right then.

Thalia was breathing heavily, like she was trying to contain her anger, which of curse didn't work.

"Enough!" Chiron ordered. Of course, neither of them listened.

Thalia pointed at boss with her spear. "You want some, Seaweed Brain?"

Ow, that's gotta hurt. Losing Annabeth and then getting called that by one of her friends . . . when Annabeth had made it up . . . (Boss won't admit this, but he's really protective.) [OW!]

"Bring it on, Pinecone Face!" Boss yelled back. _Shut up! _I wanted to yell. Too bad.

Boss raised his glowing sword. Before he could do anything, a huge lightning bolt cascaded down from the sky, narrowly missing me. "Geez, lady!" I yelled. No one heard me—of course.

The bolt bounced off Thalia's spear and slammed into him, sending him flying backwards. His armour broke like it had gone through a tin-opener.

"Thalia!" Chiron yelled. "That is _enough_!"

Boss got to his feet. The entire river began to rise.

"Percy!" Chiron pleaded.

Boss looked like he was about to hurl it at Thalia, when he saw something. The river collapsed back onto the banks. Thalia looked so surprised she turned to see what it was.

I myself didn't see a thing, but I smelled something _foul._

I swooped down through the trees and yelped. The Oracle had come to say hello.

I had actually never seen the Oracle, but now I wished it could've stayed that way.

It was a mummy. In a tie-die dress, with a million pendants around her neck. "This is impossible," I heard Chiron say. He sounded nervous. When he says stuff like that—he means it. "It . . . she's never left the attic before. Never."

The weathered, withered old mummy shuffled along until it stood in the centre of the group of kids. Then it spoke—I heard it too. Some kids cupped their hands over their ears. Except the Oracle was speaking in their heads.

_I am the spirit of Delphi, _she said. Her voice hissed through my head like they had multiple levels. _Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python._

She regarded the kids around her with her blank, marble eyes. Her eyes unnerved me, maybe because I had always thought of eyes as interesting—even Medusa's pulsing eyes didn't unnerve me as much as this. The mummy turned its attention to Zoë. _Approach, Seeker, and ask._

I landed. With seeing this, I didn't trust myself to stay in the air. For a moment, the Oracle turned its attention to me. I thought I saw an expression on her withered face. That wasn't right—it was dead.

Zoë swallowed. "What must I do to help my goddess?"

The mummy's mouth opened, and green smoke billowed out. The green mist began to gather in the shape of mountains, and I saw the faint shape of Artemis, kneeling and bound in chains, her arms forward as if to fend off an attacker. She looked in pain.

_Five shall go west to free the goddess in chains,_

_One shall be lost in the land without rain,_

_The bane of Olympus shows the trail,_

_Campers and Hunters combined shall prevail,_

_The Titan's Curse must one withstand,_

_And one shall perish by a parent's hand._

I was about to call out, _Gee, lovely prophecy! Let's go!_ But I didn't, which was odd, because I was never one to take things seriously, except stuff like the Blessing of Nyx, but this wasn't something I was going to openly be stupid about.

As I watched, along with the rest of camp, the mist swirled back into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock, where she remained, still as a statue.

But that didn't fool me. Her blank eyes were baring into me.

_The night's blessed must fly west on their tail,_

_Without him behind, the quest shall fail,_

_Carry the one who was not meant to be,_

_Then he shall stay, to the stars he must see_

_One shall lead them high to the heavens,_

_And soon he shall witness none but the seven's._

I had no idea what she'd just said, but no one else heard it. A sinking feeling appeared in my gut. _The night's blessed . . . _I had a terrible, terrible feeling about this quest.

* * *

**Ta-da! This isn't obvious, is it? **

**I have actually written a prophecy . . . *gasp***

**Cue skepticism from Cat:**

**"Owl, be quiet and get on with it."**

**Meh.**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ta-da!**

**I' sorry I've been a lazy child, but now I we have THE NEXT CHAPTER!**

**Yeah . . . THE FINAL FILLER!**

**WHOOHOO!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs and my words**

* * *

**_Chapter 6: I on a Quest . . . Again_**

I couldn't sleep that night, honestly. I tried once, twice, about thirty times, and I just _couldn't. _I then gave up and left the stable.

The night was a cold, windy night—maybe a few good winds, but nothing much. A snowy blast whacked me in the flank, causing me to jump. Me and my poor flank had quite an experience with things hitting us.

I ploughed through the snow that was biting at my legs. I could hear the sea—roaring in the distance. I was about to take a nice long breath of winter air when somewhere behind me, I heard, "Blackjack?"

I bit back a curse—I'm sorry, but I have an extensive list of those. "Yeah?" I asked as I turned around.

Opal stood in the doorway of the stables. She was frowning. "Where are you going?"

I shrugged—[yes, the wings are what I shrug with, boss. That was not necessary.]—and flicked my tail back and forth behind me. "For a walk. Can't sleep."

Opal tilted her head so she had one golden eye fixed on me. "That's only half the truth."

I sighed. "Why do horses know me so well?"

An amused smile appeared on her face. "Because I do. So, where is it you're going?"

"Um . . . somewhere."

"Somewhere?"

"I don't know. I was bored, and I couldn't sleep."

The truth was that prophecy was bouncing around in my head worse than when Kronos had threatened me. That memory made my stomach knot.

Opal walked out into the cold. Unless it was my imagination, the snow around her seemed to turn more watery. No, I was definitely imagining it.

"Well, can I come? You're not the only one with sleeping problems."

"Oh yeah?"

Opal flashed me a glare, which made me shut up. Opal definitely knew what she was talking about.

"Come on," she said. "I guess we can have another re-match . . . hopefully without one of us getting struck by lightning."

I smiled. "Okay, lead the way, Little Miss Sunshine."

Opal smiled, but there was a momentary look of fear on her face. I could only say how amazed I was she was so good at hiding things.

In the end, we didn't race, I just skirted over the winds blowing over the sea. Opal was scowling and trying to do the same, but she was having trouble.

"How do you do that?" she asked, obviously jealous. "I mean, it's hard."

"Well, if it wasn't, would I do it?" I asked. "But . . . I don't know. It comes naturally."

"Huh," Opal snorted. "I can only fly altitude well."

"No, you're a good flyer too—I'm just a freak."

"What would you know about being a freak," Opal muttered softly. I could tell she hadn't wanted me to hear it. But that never stops me from being an idiot, does it?

"I know heaps about being a freak. It's not too bad."

Opal looked away as she glided on a draught. Her gold and chocolate mane blew over her eye, stopping me from seeing it. I suspected she was stifling tears.

"Blackjack," she said. "I . . . I've got a secret—a big one. You know Helios, the old—"

"Night Pegasus!" cried a shining Hippocampi as it jumped from a wave. I stiffed as it called me that. I hoped Opal hadn't made the connection. She looked like she hadn't.

"Yes?" I asked. Why do Hippocampi always ask me for help? Sure, I was friends with boss, but that's not the point, okay? [It is _not!_]

"We need the son of Poseidon! A creature is in need of aid!"

I looked back at Opal, who had managed to collect herself. She nodded like she understood. "See you tomorrow, Blackjack," she said, and flew back to camp.

I hovered there, watching her, mouth open as she flew away. She was about to tell me something—something big, concerning the old sun god Helios.

"Yeah," I said. "I'll get him."

I kicked the door of Cabin 3. Who sleeps at five in the morning? If you're wondering, I can tell the time at night. Handy.

I head-butted it. _Answer the door, Kelp Face!_

The door flew open, and a bronze sword came at me. It froze an inch from my chest. Boss was holding the hilt, looking at me quizzically.

"Whoa, boss!" I yelled, opening my wings and about to rear up, hopefully to kick him in the sorry face for that, but he didn't hit me. Meh.

"I don't wanna be a horse-ke-bob!"

"Blackjack," boss said. He sounded annoyed. Dude, if _I _show up, you should be honoured. [OW!]

"It's the middle of the night!" he said, obviously miffed that I had woken up from his beauty sleep. (Not that it was doing him any good anyway.) [Jeez, man!]

I snorted. "Ain't either, boss. It's five in the morning. What you still sleeping for?"

I was about to add, _a miracle, _but in the world of the gods, they rarely ever happen. Tyche may be nice to mortals, but that don't mean she cares about us half-bloods and such.

[Descendant of Pegasus? Dude, I would've thought even _you _knew that.]

"How many times have I told you? don't call me boss."

Hey, If _I'm _the one calling you boss, accept it.

What he didn't realise is sarcasm. I tend to pride myself on it.

"Whatever you say, boss. You're the man. You're my number one."

Dude, how obvious is the sarcasm is that?!

"Blackjack," he said. "You're supposed to stay in the stables."

[The next person who brings that up, prepare to die!]

"Meh, the stables. You see Chiron in the stables?"

"Well . . . no."

"Exactly. Listen, we got another little sea friend that needs your help."

"Again?"

"Yeah, I told the hippocampi I'd come and get you." Hey, I did.

Boss groaned. Why do people get annoyed with being popular and liked for the _right _reasons? You don't hear me complaining!

Although, it could be because I was being held captive because I was a Night Pegasus . . . and that I was liked because of that fact . . .

"All right," he said. "I'm coming."

"You're the best, boss," more sarcasm. _How can you not pick up on that?!_

"And don't call me boss!"

I laughed. Why was that an issue? I still think being a captive on the Titan's ship was an issue, but there's no telling that kid.

Boss stuck something in his pocket—a Yankees cap? Right, I have less of an idea of this kid now. If possible.

* * *

I glided down over the surf where I'd seen the Hippocampi. Boss shifted. "Here," I said, tilting my wings and turning in a circle over the spot. "Straight down."

"Thanks," boss tumbled off my back. I flew around for a bit. What should I do? I _should _wait for boss. But then I should _also _go and talk to Opal—what was I meant to do?

[Dude, your opinion is not needed.]

In the end, I decided to do _nothing. _

I flew around, darting from one draught to another, pulling up and diving. It was great to fly—you could forget about everything and just focus on the flying.

I darted around for a bot—and just felt something strange.

Was it loneliness?

I turned back to the shore. I blinked a few times. Was I seeing this?

Black cars and giant golden eagles were heading to Camp. There was a flying chariot, being drawn by a horse I knew too well—Scipio.

The kids were armed, and ready. What was I seeing?

Then something changed. I seemed to be in the centre of a blurry world. I saw sparks, heard screams, yells, metal on metal, I saw things flying out in the blurriness. I saw a long, jagged bolt of lightning arc down in front of me. I saw a storm spirit.

I saw boss and Annabeth—older, holding onto something just above an endless darkness.

I saw Opal leading a flying chariot, her form flickering from her to a skeleton horse.

I saw a wispy, golden Pegasus galloping across the sky, the sun rising after it.

Then the world cleared, and I was hovering above the sea.

What had I just seen? I had no idea.

Before I could think about it, boss emerged from the water. Time to go back.

I swooped down and picked him up.

Something told me that things were about to get a lot more exciting.

* * *

"Blackjack," boss said. "Put me down here."

I looked at where he wanted to be put down. There was a small kid crouching behind one of the pillars in the Mess Hall. There were voices coming from one of the tables. Why someone apart from me was still away at 5:44 exactly was beyond me.

I landed and boss slipped off. He took out the cap from his pocket and stuck it on his head. He disappeared. I squinted. _What in Tartarus . . .?_

Then a silhouette of a shape began to form. I realised something—in the night, I could see through invisibility. I remember that hat! It was Annabeth's!

Oh . . .

Right . . .

I crept up along the path boss was going on(invisibly, of course) and listened in to what the Hunters were saying. Zoë . . . she wouldn't do something like this unless it was important. Yes, I had met her on _one _occasion, but that is _not _the point, I can figure out people quite easily, which is why I liked boss. He was just as much of an idiot as I was. [OW!]

I'd missed most of what they were talking about, but I heard that Zoë had had a dream, and that it included the General . . . _General. _That riang a bell. General of the Titan Army? Wasn't that . . . ? Og, good gods. They didn't— please tell me they didn't— I really hoped I was wrong.

General. Titans. Dream. Hunters. That meant one thing—Artemis had something to do with this. If not, she wouldn't hav had Hypnos send Zoë that dream—yes, speak for experience, I met him. (Long story.)—so that meant something _bad. _I couldn't help but feel that this was somehow connected to boss's friend Annabeth. If it was . . .

I stared at the black, watery silhouette of boss as he stood behind that kid, eavesdropping on their conversation. Then the two girls stood up and began to run to Big House. Zoë stopped in front of boss just as easily as she had started. Her eyes narrowed—if there was one person, or nymph, or whatever, could figure out that there was an invisible person there, it was Zoë. She was a Hunter too, and she had been for about three millennia—she could safely say that she had picked up tracking skills, which gave her sharp senses to figure out that there was someone there.

Sorry, was that a bit long? Well, I can safely say that Zoë was _not _someone to try your luck with.

I looked up to see something coming. From the distance, it looked like a huge golden eagle—a mildly _glowing _golden eagle. But, as it got closer, I saw that it wasn't. It was Opal.

She gave me a crooked glare—more playful than angry. "Here we go again," she said.

"What? I mean, I wasn't—"

Opal winked at me. "Come on, you can't expect me to belive _that_? You're a sad Night Pegaus."

I froze to the spot. "What do you . . . ?"

"I've made you a nickname," she said. "Jackie doesn't suit you that much. Blackie is a pony's name, so yeah. And you have a thing with the night—so a Night Pegasus you are!"

Relief flooded through me. She didn't know. "Alright then, _Sun Pegasus," _I said. It happened so quickly I thought I was imagining it—Opal stiffened, her eyes widened, and the snow melted in a ring around her like a pulse. Then it stopped. She smiled like nothing had happened.

"No, I just prefer Opal. So, are you going, or not? You're friend has a good idea on what he's doing." I glanced up to see boss hiking up the hill.

"So," she said slightly firmer. "Are you going?"

I grinned. "Hmm . . . maybe. Okay, I am. Care to join me?"

I opened a wing out to her, but she tightened up. Her eyes fixed wistfully on the horizon. "No, I can't go—it'll arouse suspicion. I'm the pegasi that Silena rides—every day. So, you go, _Night Pegasus, _show me that you can survive twice—hopefully without getting captured again."

"I like how you said _hopefully_. Okay—see you . . . later?"

Opal tossed her mane. "Get going, you horse. When you get back—alive—I'll ask you how it went. Until then, try to stay alive."

I nodded. I was disappointed. I would've liked to have a friend with me. I didn't like going it alone—I could get Guido and Porks, but . . . that prophecy . . . I had a feeling it was meant to be a lone prophecy. I couldn't take a companion on this quest.

"Um . . . tell Porks and Guides I'll bring them a souvenir if they're good," I called. Opal laughed. "You are too lazy! Get going!"

I grinned as I began flying over to where boss was standing, no idea what he was going to do. I landed. Suddenly _I _had no idea what to say.

I nuzzled at the grass. "If I was guessing, boss, I'd say you need a getaway horse. You interested?"

His face lit up—just as the sun was rising. Oddity.

"Yeah," he said. "Let's fly."

He swung on, and I took off. I glanced back at Opal, who was cantering back to the stables. I must've been hallucinating, because it looked like a ray of sunlight was sticking to her, flying out behind her like a giant train.

I shook my head and flew after the white van that was slowly pulling away from camp.

_Here we go again. _

* * *

**Dunn-dunn-dunnnnnnnnn!**

**Please, stay tuned!**

**Random question:**

**Have you been having internet bugs? I know I have.**

**Now, the extra snazzy BONUS QUESTION:**

**Have you got any ideas about Opal? Any . . . theories?**

**cat, you can NOT be part of this, because you will be a spoiler.**

**I can tell you that it shall all be revealed eventually!**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**


	8. Chapter 8

**You probably think I'm really lazy now. **

**But I have produced chapter 7! Whoohoo!**

**Here we have a link to the DeviantART: **

**Whoohoo.**

**Reply to reviews!**

**I got one. Depressing - kinda.**

**That review made me day!**

**Nanu Kitty: Your idea with the bonus question: no comment.**

**THAT MEANS NEITHER!**

**Um . . . I know what you mean with the MoA. I think I was a little . . . over-the-top with my crying. But I had waited SO FREAKING LONG FOR THAT REUNION AND THEN HE JUST . . . I can't say any more without spoilers.**

**ANYWAYS! Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and words. Crato is a real god, peeps.**

* * *

**_Chapter7: Humans are Freaking Heavy_**

The great thing about being a getaway horse is that you can always blame the rider.

Whoever listens to the horse?

And I also got to make some nice traffic blocks, which boss saw as a problem, and I saw as fun. [I'm quite an oddity, aren't I?]

It was bitterly cold, and the rain stung against me. Did I care? Not really. Sure, I could end up dying . . . again. So I considered myself a skilled quester! I'd nearly died on the last one! You have to award me extra points for being captive.

I lost the van a few times through the traffic, though. A white van. What a great way to try and single out a car! A _white van_. Colour: white. Model: van.

That was all very well, except there were about thirty million _other _white vans on the road at the time . . .

But, we still managed to find the van again. I could just sort of see a faint silveriness on it, like wispy light that drifted off it as it drove down the highway.

Actually, boss and I figured they'd go to Manhattan, which was where they always went, to drop them off at the Greyhound Station. We were 50% correct.

Boss landed me on the top of a Chrysler building, and we thought the van would pull over at the station. That's the 50% we got wrong. The little van just kept chugging on . . . **(Sorry, but I'm just in a really childish mood and I can't stop myself from writing cute little phrases.)**

"Where's Argus taking them?" boss muttered.

"Oh, Argus ain't driving, boss," I told him. "That girl is." I prefer not to elaborate on my . . . _painful _past with the Hunters. [Yes, even more painful than this, Kelp Head.]

"Which girl?"

Suddenly I had a mental blank—it could've been because I saw a doughnut drive-thru, or because I was just a lazy horse. "The Hunter girl. With the silver crown thing in her hair."

Call me a dolt—[not you]—but I was just looking at those doughnuts . . . I have a thing for doughnuts, okay? Like boss's eating obsession. [Yes, you _so _do.]

"Zoë?"

"That's the one," I said. Now, to break the news about the doughnuts . . . "Hey, look! There's a doughnut shop. Can we hit the drive-thru?"

Boss then tried to explain to me that we couldn't go there—party pooper—and that a kid on a Pegasus in the drive-thru could give just about every policeman in the shop a heart-attack. In instances like this, demigods, there's a force called the _Mist. _[ . . . Guido's saying that it was a good thing I didn't go, because then I'd never leave—gods, Guido, this is a _doughnut shop, _not the Lotus Casino!]

I was having a boring argument with boss as the van drove along to the Lincoln Tunnel. Boss was probably about to say something, maybe to tell me to shut it and get going after them—but something wrapped around me fetlock. Many painful things had coiled around that foot before . . . yes, on _that _ship.

I reared in alarm and kicked, desperately trying to get it off. Memories of chains and ropes flashed through my mind, whips and grappling hooks. I was on the brink of screaming—I _refused _to go back to that ship. But more than that, I'd promised Opal I'd make it back.

More things wrapped around my wings and boss's legs. They coiled up my legs so tight they hurt. I swore I felt thorns. They wrapped around my ribcage. More memories came to the surface. _You are okay, _I told myself. _Stay calm, you can get yourself out of this, just stay _calm.

Calm wasn't working very well.

I realised the things that were wrapping around me were grapevines. Grape— oh gods . . . the wine dude.

I was panicking, vines wrapped around my neck and muzzle. _STAY CALM, YOU DOLT! _I yelled at myself. _Get the message to boss!_

"Going somewhere?"

For a second I thought it was Luke. With his humming sword and torture routines. Then I realised that it wasn't Luke's voce. I pulled against the vines to see who it was.

Pity didn't exist in the wine god's eyes. God of wine and parties and extremities, he didn't know what fear was. Idiot.

"God alert!" I yelled against the vines. "It's the wine dude!"

The god sighed in exasperation. "The next person, _or horse, _that calls me 'the wine dude' will end up in a bottle of Merlot!"

_Had enough experience with bottles, thank you very much! _I felt like screaming at him. Why didn't he care about us? Why was he such a _moron_? I told myself to calm down. As much of a moron he was, he wouldn't kill us on the spot. More like torture us or something. Torturing in the open I can handle, torturing in confined spaces, like cells, nope. Not a chance.

"Mr D," boss tried to keep his voice calm. I guessed he could feel me trembling or something. I still don't know what with. Was I scared? Hoped not. Was I mad that he knows what I've been through and the pain and yet he torments me with this stuff? Was I raging? Was it because he couldn't care less about the camp and that it didn't take a genius to figure out that It would need saving eventually and he didn't seem to care? What _was _it?

More grapevines wrapped around me and boss. They trapped my wings and painful angles. I ground my teeth. _I've had a broken wing before, and I do not need another! _Yeah, I guess I was mad _then. _

"What do you want?" boss asked.

"Oh, what do _I _want? You thought, perhaps, that an immortal, all-powerful director of camp wouldn't notice you leaving without permission?"

_Well, now that you mention it— _I cut myself off before I could get turned into a bottle. I don't like bottles. [You just realised?]

"Well . . . maybe."

Ooh, awesome response!

"I should throw you off this building, minus the flying horse, and see how heroic you sound on the way down."

That made me angry. Then I felt something—the vines loosened around me. I looked down and saw them falling away. The ones on my wings came loose too. I shuddered. There was something with my wings . . . like that feeling before something goes numb, except . . . different.

Still, that was a pretty good comeback on Mr D's part.

Boss tightened on my back. I could feel his balled fists against my sides. "Why do you hate me so much? What have I ever done to you?"

The vines then started to coil up me again, but I sort of held me own. Unless I was imagining it—I probably was—but my coat started turning an ever darker shade of black. They stopped at my shoulders. My wings were still free. Take that, _wine dude!_

[. . . The lightning's not meant to actually happen, is it? I mean— oh, dear . . . um . . . no, I didn't just do that, Mr D— Lord Dionysus. No, I didn't—_I did not! _Just tell you dad to stop with the lightning. _Fine, _I'll call you something else from now on . . . happy? No, I don't think the Blessing of Nyx covers that. What? No, that's like, against camp rules—no direct killing of another demigod/member of camp. Yes, that's right—goodbye!]

"You are a hero, boy. I need no other reason."

"I _have _to go on this quest! I've got to help my friends. It's something you don't understand!"

Ouch, that's gotta hurt.

"Um, boss," I said nervously. I knew the wine god had a sensitive spot. I think boss might have just hit that . . . "Seeing as we're wrapped in vines three hundred metres in the air, you might want to talk nice."

Boss might have listened for a second, but the god kept going. "Did I ever tell you about Ariadne?" he asked. "Beautiful young princess of Crete? She liked helping her friends, too. In fact, she helped a hero named Theseus, also a son of Poseidon. She gave him a ball of magic thread that let him find his way out of the Labyrinth. And do you know how Theseus rewarded her?"

I was having much the same thoughts as boss, but the way he said, _also a son of Poseidon . . . _there seemed to be a missing phrase there. I looked out onto the highway and saw that the van was almost out of sight. "They got married," boss said. "Happily ever after. The end."

Mr D sneered. His eyes were glowing with purple fire as I turned to look at him. "Not quite. Theseus _said _he would marry her. He took her aboard his ship and set sail for Athens. Halfway back, on a little island named Naxos, he—what's the word you mortals use these days?—he _dumped _her. I found her there, you know. Alone. Heartbroken. Crying her eyes out. She had given up everything, left everything she knew behind, to help a dashing young hero who tossed her away like a broken sandal."

"That's wrong," boss said. He probably meant it, but he wanted to save his friends _now. _"But that was thousands of years ago. What's it got to do with me?"

Mr D regarded him coldly. Not a hint of happiness in his glowing eyes. Dude, get a life. I then realised that he was wearing a leopard-skin pattern running suit. Yeah, like _that _was gonna happen.

"I fell in love with Ariadne, boy. I healed her broken heart. And, when she died, I made her my immortal wife on Olympus. She waits for me even now. I shall go back to her when I am done with this infernal century of punishment at your ridiculous camp."

Um . . . did I hear that right? I hope not . . . god of _extremities? _Married?

"You're . . . you're married?" boss stammered. Yep, you can see why we get along. "But I thought you got in trouble for chasing a wood nymph—"

Oh yeah . . . I forgot that.

"My _point _is that you heroes never change. You accuse us gods of being vain. You should look at yourselves. You take whatever you want, use whoever you have to, and then you betray everyone around you. So you'll excuse me if I have no love for heroes. They are a selfish, ungrateful lot. Ask Ariadne. Or Medea. For that matter, ask Zoë Nightshade."

I didn't have to ask Zoë anything. I already knew that she had helped Heracles and then got herself banished from her garden. I knew that she had asked me to tell her sisters if I met them that they were right but also wrong, that she was wrong but also right. No, it didn't make sense, but she had asked me to, so I was going to. I was in debt to her, after all. This stuff can really deep-fry your brain sometimes.

I guess I should say I wasn't paying attention to the doughnut shop anymore.

"What do you mean, ask Zoë?" boss asked. Ouch, being left in the dark. Hey, I'm a Night Pegasus. The dark is the night, dude.

He waved a hand dismissively. "Go. Follow your silly friends."

The vines uncoiled from around me. "You're . . . you're letting me go?" boss asked in disbelief.

Hello? What happened to _we_?

"The prophecy says that at least two of you will die. Perhaps I'll get lucky and you'll be one of them. But mark my words, Son of Poseidon, live or die, you will prove no better than those other heroes."

Well, that stung.

With that, the god—fine, _Lord Dionysus—_snapped his fingers. His image began to fold up like a paper display and there was a _pop. _Then the god was gone, leaving nothing behind but a smell of grapes that was quickly blown away by the wind.

I took a deep breath. No vines. _No vines. _"Too close," I said.

Boss nodded. He looked unsure whether it would've been good if Mr D _had _dragged us back to camp. He seemed pretty certain that we—or boss, I don't mind. [OW!] Would end up dead from this quest. No surprises there.

Then that line came back to me, _also a son of Poseidon, _was it me, or had he glanced at me with those words, as if saying, _use your empty head, Night Pegasus!_

"Come on, Blackjack," boss said. "I'll buy you some doughnuts in New Jersey."

To be honest, doughnuts were the last thing I was thinking off.

* * *

As it turned out, boss was a cheapskate and didn't buy me any doughnuts in New Jersey.

We'd found the van, and it just kept going south, past New Jersey.

Last year, when I'd been on my own following boss's cab from Vegas, I'd been fine—but humans, even half-humans, are just _freaking _heavy, okay?

Zoë eventually pulled over at a service station in Maryland. I practically tumbled out of the sky. "I'll be okay, boss," I panted. "Just . . . just catching my breath."

"Stay here," he said, pulling something from his pocket. "I'm going to scout."

_For doughnuts? _I nearly asked, but I was too tired to even be a smart aleck. "'Stay here' I can handle. I can do that."

Boss then began to walk to the station. I stretched my wings. Ow.

That tingling in the wings? Replaced by _aches, _okay? Boss—lose some weight.

I was about to let out a sigh of relief when I felt someone's arm drape over my neck. Um . . . weird.

I thought it might have been a mortal or something, thinking I could've been a statue through the Mist. But that didn't change the fact that there was a distinct smell of BO on the guy.

He had jet-black hair and he was just . . . seriously ripped. His eyes were bronze, so that gave me the impression that he was a god.

"Hmm . . . can I help you?" I asked. I'd recovered a bit.

"Oh, have a guess who I am and I'll tell you."

The guy was wearing a black tank top and jeans. I thought of every god or monster or everything I knew. I took a guess, "Lord Cratos?"

The guy grinned. "Brains! Nyx chose well! Now, I see that you are tired—half-bloods are heavy, you have to admit—and seeing as I'm the god of strength and all, I thought I'd give you a hand."

"What? No! I mean— sorry, but I really can't afford to be in any more debt to people."

A sad smile stretched across the god's face. "In the future, everyone shall be in debt to you, Night Pegasus. Debt will be minor."

"Gee, that's nice."

Cratos raised a hand and then flicked his wrist. A pair of shades appeared in his fingers. He slipped them on. "Well, I can give you some physical strength—"

"I mean seriously, dude, _no. _If I can't keep going—I'll just wait until nightfall. Then I'm good."

"Oh yeah . . . night . . . but, can you afford to _wait _that long? I mean, sure, you'll catch up—"

"I prefer not to have spoilers on my friends' deaths, thanks."

Cratos gave a devilish grin. "Sure—the god of power can't do that."

"Um, you let out the word _minor._"

Cratos glared at me through his shades. "Did you just—?"

"Call you a minor god? Why indeed, yes, I did. Got a problem with that?"

Cratos pointed at me with a ripped finger—even that was ripped—"you're sure you're not planning on suicide?"

"No, sadly. I've got some quests and dangerous stuff planned for my upcoming life, thanks. All out of places to fit that in."

Call me an idiot, but I had just carried a kid all the way to Maryland, wrapped up in vines, and now I was being harassed by a bone-head muscle man.

Cratos seemed to then shrug it off. "God of strength—has to know how to control it. So, you don't want any help?"

"No."

"Tough luck."

"What are you—?"

Before I could do anything, he grabbed an aching wing and immediately it stopped hurting. The feeling spread to my other wing. "There," he said. "Any thanks?"

"You forgot that I asked you not to do it."

He shrugged. "See you in a few years—under different circumstances. Don't underestimate just how much one person can change, Night Pegasus. Don't."

And then he disappeared in a flash and a smell of fresh BO.

Get me the god of air fresheners!

Boss then came out of the service station. I grimaced as he climbed on. I thought Cratos had fixed that, but what did I know? What did that meat-head know, either?

As we continued south, the badly mended wings seemed to snap. I began to pant and lose attitude.

"You okay?" boss asked. Gee, isn't it a bit obvious? But I refused to let my exhaustion beat me. I'd also promised Opal that I'd _do _this. And I was going to. A little thing like pain and exhaustion wasn't going to stop me.

"Fine, boss. I could . . . I could take on an army."

"You don't sound so good," he said. Oh my, what was your first clue?

"Don't worry about me, boss!" I said. That is a cheesy line, okay? "I'm a tough one."

I am, okay? Name another horse who's survived Kronos's ship!

Then the van slowed down. It turned off the highway into Washington. I'd never been there.

We flew over the capital of the USA and boss said, "Set me down here. That's close enough."

I was so tired I didn't complain. I flew down towards the green outside the monument. Boss slipped off. Man, it felt good to have some air again!

The van was a few blocks up. It parked on the kerb. The kids started spilling out. Boss looked back at me. "I want you to go back to camp. Get some rest. Graze. I'll be fine."

I cocked my head sceptically. "You sure, boss?"

I knew his answer was actually _no, _but I knew that he'd never in a millennia admit that.

"You've done enough already," he said. "And thanks a ton."

"A ton of hay, maybe," I mused. "That sounds good. All right, but be careful, boss. I got a feeling they didn't come here to meet anything friendly and handsome like me."

Boss promised he'd be careful, and then I took off, circled in the clouds a few times and then realised that my wings weren't sore. At all.

Crato was playing with me. I didn't want his help, but I did want to help boss. So he got rid of the pain but gave it to me when I tried to help. Moron.

I looked down to see the face someone climbing out of a black sedan a few blocks down. I don't kno why, but with that face came the name, _manticore._

* * *

**For the first time in ages I have actually written a decent chapter.**

**I hope you enjoyed!**

**Please be patient for the next one, you know what Term 4's like for us? It;s officially, ****_the assessment _****term.**

**NOOOO!**

**It sucks.**

**Until then, dear friends,**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**


	9. Chapter 9

**Yeah, you people are going to hate me for this chapter.**

**Sorry, but you know those weeks where you just fall asleep in ****_every _****class? I'm having one of those weeks.**

**And then my friend has a party tomoz, and I have NO IDEA what to get her, and then yeah.**

**So, I apologize for the microchapter, but here it is - I SWEAR UPON THE RIVER STYX THAT I SHALL UPDATE IN LESS THAN FIVE DAYS ON THIS ONE! **

**Okay, please read!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs and words, thanks.**

**(I know! I'm getting manners! Shocking, I know.)**

* * *

**_Chapter 8: Why is My Life So Confusing?_**

I'd like to tell you that I was awesome and jumped in to save the day.

In actual fact, boss saved me again . . . except this time he didn't even know.

[Stop looking so smug.]

I followed his silhouette as he followed the guy in the manticore guy. The dude headed towards the Space Museum, and then he hesitated. Okay . . . since when did the Titan Lord of Time have an event in a museum? I didn't think that Kronos liked history when he controlled the flow of time.

Thalia and her other questing buddies slipped into the museum. The manticore stopped, then he headed across the mall. Boss followed him.

He crossed the street and climbed the steps to the _Museum of Natural History. _Yet again, that Titan Lord left me clueless.

Well, that's where he was going, right? Why would he bother hanging around here and yet _not _follow the demigods of Kronos wasn't here? Well sorry, but sometimes I _can _use my brain. [Don't look so surprised.]

The monster walked towards some doors with the sign _closed for private event _on them. Two doormen—actually guards, but we won't go there—opened the doors for him. Boss ran after him to get inside.

I don't know why, but I landed on the tarmac outside.

Worst—idea—_ever. _

One word: pain. Three different arrows sprouted from my shoulders. I crumbled to the ground. I could see two reptilian legs in front of me dimly, but everything was washed red from the pain.

_And don't get captured._

How could I have done this to her? I was just a mean horse. I'd failed her.

Somehow I got to my feet. Something hard smashed on the back of my neck and slammed me back down. _When you get back—alive. _

I ground my teeth. I struggled to my knees. The _dracaenae _hissed. "Yet again, your foolishness gets you caught."

Pain. That's what I knew. Pain.

I pressed my eyes closed so hard that I saw stars. Opal.

I painfully got up to my feet again, every one of the arrows sending shockwaves through me. _Get—back—to—camp, idiot! You said you'd make it back!_

I was panting when I stood up. Then I glared at the _dracaenae. _I was _not _going back to that ship. I was _not _being a prisoner of war again. I was _not _going to fail Opal. Never.

I could feel the air darkening, the temperature dropping. I swear that I saw fear in the snake-lady's eyes.

"I am not the Pegasus you lost," I said darkly. [Huh, dark—night. Get it? . . . Never mind.]

"I'm not the wreck you left behind."

The monster gulped. Then she narrowed her eyes and levelled her spear. "Then prepare to die."

* * *

I don't know what I did, really. The spear came towards me . . . and then . . . instinct, I guess. The air around me looked like I was generating my own night. Although the movement caused an explosion of pain in my shoulder, I opened the wing out so it shot in front of me. Black dagger-like things shot at the monster, and her spear was knocked from her hand.

I saw my reflection in her eyes. I . . . I didn't look like _me. _

Every feather on my wings had a metallic glint, and my coat had gone so black it looked like I _was _part of the darkness around me. But what scared me were the eyes . . . they were dark, in control, dangerous . . . menacing.

I stopped in shock. How was that me?

The darkness went up like vapour. My wing dropped to the ground with another explosion of pain, but I was in shock. That wasn't me, that wasn't me, _that wasn't me. _

Some of the dagger-like things had impaled themselves in the wall. They were black and had a metallic sheen. They were feathers. From my wings.

I wasn't in pain anymore—well I was, but that was nothing compared to the fear I was in. How was that me? What if I did that again and I hurt someone? Was I dangerous?

Even though every molecule in my body was screaming in pain, I ran. I jumped into the sky as a new wave of agony went through me from wing tip to hooves. One of the arrows had fallen out, one was a barbed and one was hanging loose. I didn't have time to register that, though. I was _afraid. _

I'd been afraid of torture, of pain, of loneliness, of being a prisoner . . . but of myself? No. Never. . . . Was I going insane? Had I finally been destroyed and I was nothing but an outer shell?

No. No, Opal still likes you—and Porks and Guides. You're not in ruins. You're _not._

I almost believed it.

But of course, something had to happen. The bad thing was I didn't realise until the grappling hook had wrapped around my ribs, and I was yanked back to earth.

* * *

**I told you you would hate me.**

**Sorry.**

**But I'm just . . . blank.**

**You know that the fact that the MoA is out and I've read it ten times and I have like . . . nothing to live for anymore is getting to me, and I was just sitting in my room, and was like, ****_what on earth do I do?_**

**The sad thing is that I thought I got over this WEEKS ago.**

**Oh yeah - me and Cat worked out that there's about 55 - 57 weeks until the HoH is out.**

**That seems so short, but think of it this way - there's 52 weeks in a YEAR.**

**Not so short anymore, huh?**

**Anyways, please R&R - even to curse me,**

**-Owl**


	10. Chapter 10

**I said I would update! And I HAVE!**

**Well, I'm slightly less asleep, but that's not the point.**

**Okay, I'm going to be annoying and tell you about my crossover that I'm also writing at the moment.**

**IF you have read the Mark of Athena, and IF you like the Divergent Triology, and IF you have read Insurgent, then I have started a crossover wiyth major spoilers with that in there. There you have it! Okay, back to the Blackjack Tales.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but My Ocs and words.**

* * *

**_Chapter 9: We Meet Again, Old Meanies_**

I came around a while later. I was lying on my back in the middle of a huge room. There was this weird furry thing over my face. It dripped saliva on my face. Gross.

"Ah, the Night Pegasus awakes."

I froze at that voice. _What is that guy's _problem?!

I blinked blearily as the furry thing shifted so that I could see the bottom of a huge fang that stuck out beneath the lip of the creature on top of me. I rolled onto my side and saw Luke standing on a balcony next to a chair that was shrouded in shadows. I could see a pair of hands on the gilded armrests.

"My boy, you know this horse?" asked the figure in the armchair. His voice had the same sort of disturbing strength as Kronos's, but it was deeper and stronger, so that it filled the room even though he wasn't yelling.

I looked down at where I had been lying and noticed a small pool of blood. Obviously from my shoulders. I looked up at the two people. "Well, I outsmarted this place _once,_" I practically snarled. "And beat the living daylights out of my _guards, _and then I showed up that _dracaenae _pretty well just before."

Luke's eyes narrowed at me. "You dare—"

"Night Pegasus? Has my aunt . . . ? Oh, I see. Foolish goddesses."

I stared at the shadows. "Dude, do you know how sexist that is?"

The titan laughed. Luke was glaring at me. I got to my feet. I was _not _going to fail. I was going to make it back to camp. I _was_.

The titan sat forward on his chair so I could see the outlines of his face. He had slicked back black hair and light brown skin, like he'd spent the last century getting the perfect tan. He _had _done a pretty good job, I had to admit.

"You have courage, _Night Pegasus. _My aunt always fails to see what lies ahead for her subjects."

"I am _not _a subject!" I yelled. "I am _he, _not an _it, _therefore I have importance greater than a _subject!_"

The titan grinned. He stood up and walked towards me. I shifted on my feet. He looked pretty strong, and he was tall.

Good thing I was taller—just.

"I can see why Nyx chose you," he said. "Half Roman, half Greek . . . ancient roots with many gods . . ."

Uh, I got lost at the 'ancient roots with many gods' bit. A little help?

The 'General' looked at me again. As if I wouldn't remember that helpful bit? I'm not _that _dumb!

"You have met my daughter," he said. He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. "Tell me what her tie is with the demigods."

I pulled my head back. That furry thing that had been over me before—it growled. I glanced at it and saw that it was a huge cat with huge fangs. Sabre-tooth tiger? Man, this just gets _better and better._

"Firstly, I'm enough debt to say nothing. Secondly, I don't take orders from people like _you, _Atlas, and thirdly, the ancient roots thing? I have enough trouble with just _me. _Oh—and your daughter says hi."

She didn't, but anyway.

Atlas swatted me in the shoulder with such force that I was sent catapulting into the wall. The _dracaenae _bristled their spears at me. "No ssssudden movementsss," they hissed. I glared at the titan that was grinning widely. "So foolish, the young."

I eyed him. "I am not—"

His smile grew wide, and he said another line to cut me off. "_And the night's blessed bane child of the sun."_

I froze. Those lines struck home with me. Why? I'd never heard them before.

He strolled over. "Oh, you have missed out on much, Night Pegasus. But by the end of your life, you'll wished it had stayed that way."

I rolled my eyes. Sadly, I was kind of used to these sort of threats now. "And I don't suppose your next line will be, _shame it will be right now, _will it?"

"No," Atlas smiled. "Since I can see why my boy here wanted you captured so badly. Not to mention my foolish brother. Foolish indeed. You working for him . . . that could make them unstoppable."

"I am _not _working for you!" I pawed my hoof on the ground so hard a jagged black line spread along the ground. Black vapour began to waft out of it. As it rose the light darkened. "Never," I said.

Atlas smiled like this was a lovely game. "Oh, even better! My, my, Nyx was bored, wasn't she? Sure, give him powers over the night, let him be able to control night levels."

I guess I was just mad with the death threats and the mockeries and all the ways they could manipulate the pain levels of my death. I had had _enough._

"You left out one thing," I said, opening my good wing. "There's a reason I escaped."

And I sung the wing at him, and those knife-like feathers shot out, catching every monster in the room by surprise.

Then I took my chance and ran. I crashed through the doors and jumped into the sky. My shoulders were killing me, but I ignored it. _Pain is for now, _I thought. _Freedom won't be easy to come by from now on._

* * *

I landed eventually at this industrial wasteland. Warehouses and railway tracks . . . and snow. I walked around a storage container, and then over some tracks, keeping an eye on the kids in front of me.

Yeah, I'd found them. It seemed that my shoulders had given up hurting, because I had just _not _stopped. Not to mention they'd gone numb, and it was cold, and because I was . . . slightly emo at this point. **(A/N: emo as in he wants to die, you know? Hey, that's what I'd be like in his position.)**

They stopped and huddled around a campfire. That campfire looked really good, you know, and it was getting dark . . .

Actually, it wasn't, I was just looking for an excuse to get over there.

There was a homeless guy sitting there, and he pointed somewhere, I followed his finger and saw one of those freight trains. It was gleaming and new, and had a distinct air of _warmth _around it.

I looked back at the kids and saw that there was no homeless guy, and no fire.

Just my luck.

The kids started walking towards the train, and I limped along behind—the feeling had started to come back in my shoulders—and watched as they got on.

I galloped along the side—in pain, I might add—before realising that I would _have _to fly into a carriage. I gritted my teeth and opened my wings, making pain the largest civilization on the world and flapped them once to get into the air. I flapped them again and angled into the carriage, before tumbling in.

Ouch.

I shook my face free of motor oil—yuck—and walked along the jumbling carriage. Then I got myself stuck between some cool cars—I've caused enough traffic accidents to know the flash ones from the rubbish ones—and then lay there for a bit, trying to get rid of the pain.

I guess I was there for _quite a while, _because I was jolted back to reality by Thalia yelling.

"She _wasn't _right! Luke _never _let me down. Never."

"We'll have to fight him," boss said. Gee, such a comforter, aren't you? [Shut it.] "There's no way around it."

Thalia didn't say anything back; she was probably trying to restrain herself from creating boss's immediate and painful death. "You haven't seen him lately," boss said. Okay, there are times when you don't say anything, you know? No, you don't. "I know it's hard to believe, but—"

"I'll do what I have to."

Dude, that's the subtle and stereotypical way of saying _stuff off. _Did you miss that? [Well, clearly you did, okay? What? No, someone as handsome and brave, and— fine, but you _did_.]

"Even if it means killing him?"

Here we go.

"Do me a favour," Thalia said. "Get out of my car."

You have to admit, sometimes the girl is right. [There, now Annabeth likes me.]

I looked through the cars and saw boss climbing out of Thalia's car. He was about to go when she said, "Percy."

Am I the only one confused?

"Annabeth wanted to join the Hunters, too. Maybe you should think about why."

Then she raised the power windows and shut him out. Yeah, the girl was _definitely _right, even if she nearly killed me at capture the flag.

Boss climbed into this Lamborghini I think, is that it? [. . . You see? The horse knows stuff!] Grover had fallen asleep in the back, and I was wondering why there was poison ivy twisted around the axel of the car.

And then I had a _very _strong urge _not _to go near that car. I couldn't care less about the ivy, but there was something else, something . . . sunny.

Sorry, but I'm a _Night _Pegasus—sun doesn't go as well as dark, people.

To be honest, neither does Apollo's haiku.

I crept back, something told me that there was something _godly _in that car. Um . . . me and gods? Just about the same as starving lion to meat—I'm the meat, for future reference.

I was about to calmly ignore what was going on in my bizarre and really annoying and painful life when Apollo the smart aleck himself was right _there._

"Greetings, _Night Pegasus."_

Was it just me, or was the way he _spat _'Night Pegasus' out any indication that he didn't like me?

"Apollo."

He crossed his arms. "I'm meant to be Fred."

"And I'm meant to be dead—many times. May I help you?"

He smiled for a second. "Fred—dead, rhymes! Okay, number one—you have to help my sister. If you don't . . . it won't be pretty. Secondly, you have too many dealings with the sun. That filly—she's a bad thing, stay away from her."

Then I was mad. "What have you got against Opal? What has she ever done to you?"

Apollo gave a bitter laugh. "You have _no _idea."

It was getting dark outside. At least that meant I could get rid of him. "What do you want, Apollo?"

He rubbed his hands together. "I want you to help my sister. You're in debt to her anyway."

"Um . . . yeah, even if she shot me out of the sky."

Apollo glared at me. "Got a problem with that?"

I wanted to say, _yes, I did, _but I kept my mouth shut. I didn't need a moody teenager god trying to kill me too.

I sighed, "No, I don't. What do you want me to do _more specifically_?"

The god shrugged. "I'm the god of prophecies. Keep that kid safe."

"I've been doing that for the last two years."

"Then keep going. And be prepared for sacrifices, and pain, more than one type of pain, _Night Pegasus. _Nyx may have tried to change her ways, but a primordial is a primordial. They can't be trusted."

I was about to kick him or something, but he disappeared, leaving me wondering who he had meant to insult. Me, Opal or Nyx.

* * *

**Ta-da!**

**There you have it! Chapter 9 done and dusted.**

**I feel like getting more opinions on this question, Nanu Kitty has a pretty good idea, but I just want to know what you think.**

**QUESTION:**

**What is it that makes Opal so special? What is her tie with the sun?**

***shrugs* I just felt like asking that.**

**. . . Cat is saying that I should shut up and post the chapter.**

**Until the next chapter!**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey!**

**Sorry I disappeared off the face of the earth for a bit.**

**Well, here we are, and I hope this is a fairly decent chapter . . .**

**3,000+ words? Is that good?**

**Review Replies:**

**Nanu Kitty: THANK YOU!  
**

**I know what you mean, running out of books . . . *shudder***

**I'm giving in to Detlef and going to read the Hobbit, you know, cause the movie's coming out . . .**

**So I'll probably MIA for a bit.**

**Opal thing: no comment. I just want to see what people think, no spoilers from me.**

**. . . Except that because this runs parallel to PJO, at the end of this story, when Percy claims the prophecy in the end of the Battle of Labyrinth, you will find out! Yep, that's how it's gonna be!**

**Cat: YES YOU DID. I know that you know the tie, I told you. SO NO SPOILERS.**

**My excuse for taking so long:**

**Well, first I had to find a copy of the Titan's Curse, because my library's homicidal, so the copy I DID have I returned and the depressing fact is that I don't own any copies of the PJO series, just HoO, so yeah.**

**AND THEN when I DID get a copy, I had to go to a party that night - that I ate so many lollies at that I felt SICK, and then me Detlef and Cat got the toilet paper we used for the Mummy game and threw it on the fire, so we were the only people outside at the fire burning stuff while everyone else was inside with Chatterbox opening pressies, and we were . . . being destructive.**

**I should also mention that it was about 10 degrees outside and we all jumped in the pool - an outdoor pool with NO heating and we all got mild hypothermia which was why the fire was started in the first place. And I was wearing the CHB necklace that Cat made me and I hadn't realized so all the paint came off and me and Cat were SO upset, and I was so mad at myself for doing that, so yeah.**

**And THEN when I got home it was . . . really late, so I had to get to bed, and then the next day my friend was like, "YOU HAVE TO COME OVER TODAY!" so yeah, and THEN I got home, and I have banged this out in one sitting.**

***pants* I'm done!**

**Please enjoy!**

**Oh, and, uh, if you've read the MoA and you've read the Divergent triolgy, I'm writing a crossover called The Truth Makes Death, so yeah, if you wanna read it . . .**

**Yeah, please enjoy! My rant is over!**

**Oh no . . . one more thing!**

**Sorry that this chapter is really violent . . . SORRY!**

**But if you like violence, okay!**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and words**

* * *

**_Chapter 10: We Have a Grand *cough* Wild *cough* Day Out_**

Of all the places to get off, it had to be somewhere _cold. _

If it was night, I probably could have been okay, but of course, it was day, and it was _freezing, _not to mention we were about in the middle of nowhere.

_Cloudcroft, New Mexico. _Lovely. I stopped in front of a coffee shop where I could see the kids and boss. The heater was on inside, and that gave me some comfort. There wasn't enough snow for skiing, but that didn't mean that it wasn't snowing.

I shook out a wing to get the snow off it. It hit the ground with a thud, if that's any indication that I was covered in snow. I really wished Opal was here. She could melt snow, which I guessed meant that she gave off heat. I could use some heat right now.

The kids split into two groups. Boss, Thalia and that other Hunter girl, and then Grover and Zoë.

Zoë walked past me without a second glance. That calmed me down a bit. Number 1 of being a Night Pegasus in this situation: never let a Hunter as old and powerful as Zoë know you're there when you shouldn't be. Number 2: Don't die.

AS you can see, they were very simple things to do.

[Finally you see the sarcasm!—OUCH!]

I shuffled my wings again, shaking off more snow. I steeled myself for the cold and walked out from the warmth the coffee shop provided. I could help them. They were stranded here, I could give them a lift. I gave boss a lift.

. . . But could I give Zoë a lift? That would tell her that I was here, that would tell boss that I was here, when he told me not to be.

I couldn't do that.

I bolted back to the coffee shop before boss saw me as he walked out of the grocery store.

_Carry the one who was not meant to be._

Did that mean Zoë? Technically she shouldn't exist. Was she 'meant to be'? Did this alter the quest?

I hadn't had much time to think about the individual lines of the prophecy. Thalia walked past me to another shop, probably to ask the clerk stuff. I looked back at boss as he put a rubber rat on the rail to a shop. Right . . .

[I actually don't know why you have that face on at the moment. I thought you'd have your sarcastic-come-back-with-an-annoying-comment-while-also-being-mad face on. OW! That is _not _what I meant.]

Zoë and Grover walked back to boss and the Hunter girl, who was shooting boss daggers—yet another person, hmm—and they drank some coffees (hot chocolate too, but whatever) and had some pastries.

Those pastries did look really nice . . . and those coffees looked warm . . .

Before I knew it, I was walking out from the slightly warm coffee shop entrance. Then I froze. A warm breeze blew past, like the spring breezes that you get that are too gentle to fly on—which is why they invented thermals—scented with the smell of wildflowers and . . . whatever smells I thought of when I heard the term 'wild'. But there was something else . . . a soft voice . . . almost like a warning . . .

_Caution to the night that crosses the path of the ancient sun . . . beware the beast that shall make it undone . . . the stars may whisper, for hearing of crisper . . . beware the night that seeks the sun, for that offense forever done . . . until the act so mighty they cower, but all signs of affection shall turn them sour . . . too great a cost . . . too great a cost . . ._

Too great a cost? Ancient sun? Why do I have to hear these things?! [No, that is not the reason.]

Grover then dropped his cup and promptly collapsed. Is it just me, or do we end up falling unconscious, blacking out and such a lot? [At last we agree!]

Thalia came running up the hill; her spear in hand and her eyes wide and alert like she'd seen something she really hadn't wanted to—something that had scared her out of her skin.

I strained my ears to hear what they were saying. "Hey!" she said. "I just . . . what's wrong with Grover?"

"I don't know," boss said, bending down. "He collapsed."

"Uuuuuhhhh," Grover moaned as boss helped him up.

"Well, get him up!" she yelled, there was definitely fear in her voice now. Grover was getting to her feet. She looked behind her—in my direction—as if she was being followed. "We have to get out of here."

* * *

Let me set this straight: boss got to the edge of the town because I held off most of the skeleton warriors that far. There, that's better.

The first one was close on their tail. I galloped towards it and kicked it into three pieces before I could register what was going on. I had to let them have enough time to get ready, and even then they wouldn't stand much of a chance.

AS I looked down, it began to reassemble. Its spine began to shake and then the pelvis reattached and the grey camouflage clothes grew back. It looked up at me with hollow eye sockets. It bared its teeth and grabbed his gun off the snow.

It fired.

Fortunately, my instincts can save me in these situations.

I flung open my wing and spread out so it stretched in front of me. The bullet hit with a clink. Then I gathered up my wing and swung it open again, throwing the dagger-like metallic-thingy feathers at the skeleton. One cleaved its skull in two and another hit it square in the chest and sent it flying backwards. Its gun fell from its hand.

I reared up and crushed the gun beneath my hooves as I came down. Yeah, that stunt with the feathers had freaked me out, but my adrenaline was going nuts and I had to focus on _moving _rather than what I was doing.

_Without him behind the quest shall fail._

Gee, what a lovely line to think of right now.

Yes, I was standing behind them as they ran, I was holding off the skeletons, the _spartus. _Don't ask how I knew, but I did.

I could see two more coming up the road as the first one reassembled. I hoped their gun didn't have the same ability.

The sound like zooming glass gave me the answer. The gun was reforming and slowly being pulled by and invisible force to the skeleton's hand as its skull re-joined itself.

Ah, great.

[Well, I could've sworn, but I wasn't really thinking of that at the time . . . and this is coming from the guy who defeated Kronos and he didn't swear _then, _so why should I have sworn now? Aha! Take that!]

I was jumped by the two coming up the road. Before they could fire their guns, I threw them off and brought down my front hooves on one's ribcage, shattering it beneath them.

The other one had somehow got his hands on a whip. I will never know how, but he had.

It swung the whip.

In that moment of pain flaring through my shoulder and everything I knew, I didn't see a _spartus _standing there, I saw Nemesis, with her dark lines of 'too much good luck'_, _and 'favoured by Tyche too much'_, _I hated that moment. I hated it. I wasn't on that ship anymore. I was free, I was fighting.

My pain turned to rage as I threw open my wing, sending the skeleton flying. As it got up to his feet I kicked it, making it catapult backwards. I was galloping towards it as it drew its gun. No, I was _not _going to get a new scar; I was not going to die.

I wasn't going to die with memories of that ship in my mind.

I wasn't going to lie to Opal.

I poured on the speed and smashed into it before its finger could squeeze the trigger. It was on his back, his spine cleaved in two.

That jolted me to sense. Was I going mad?

Then I was jumped by the skeleton whose chest I had crushed.

It tried to strangle me, but I threw myself forward and smashed onto my back, crushing the skeleton under me. Its grip on my throat loosened.

I struggled to my feet and kicked away the other _spartus _as it ran at me. Then I galloped after the first one, who was running after the kids, who were nearly at the edge of the town.

I don't usually bite, but horses don't do weapons, okay? So . . . don't think of me as a barbarian. [Yes, you are, because _you _said so, remember? You know—when you were in Paris? Yeah, see?]

I was coming up to it. I reached out and bit its upper arm, pulling it back. The monster tried to punch me with its other hand, and it did, which is why I let go.

Which is why I kicked it into the tree.

Which is why the other two tackled me and then kept going—after the kids.

I blinked and got to my feet. What was I doing? Skeletons.

Skeletons!

The one I had kicked into the tree was reforming. I swung my wing and shot the dagger-thingies at it and it was pinned to the tree.

Then it promptly tore them out and got to his feet.

Then it hurtled one at me.

I could see it coming at me in slow-motion. I couldn't move. It was sailing right to my head.

Getting killed by your own weapon seems like a pretty suckish way to die.

Was I suckish? No! I was Blackjack! The most awesome and handsome Pegasus ever!—[Shut up.]—I wasn't going to die _suckishly; _I was too awesome for that.

I sidestepped and then swung another volley of daggers (I'm just going to call them that now) at it. One hit it in exactly the sternum, with a slightly black aura.

It exploded into dust.

When I looked over, I saw that the skeletons had caught up with the kids; and they'd brought friends for the party.

Boss was running towards one, his sword drawn.

Two behind him lifted a gun.

They fired.

* * *

I was expecting boss to die right then, for the bullets to hit and then all the screaming and stuff like that. I wasn't expecting him to live.

Well, I mean, it's _nice _that he did.

[Hey! I said it was nice you were alive!]

I was shocked stiff. I couldn't move, I couldn't think, I was just looking as boss picked himself up and the fight started.

I should've helped, I should've _done _something. Anything.

A warm breeze drifted past me. _A gift._

I was sure if I'd heard that or if I was imagining it, but then a huge boar came crashing through the trees.

"_REEEEEEEEET!" _It squealed, smashing aside the skeletons with its tusks. Sadly, some of us can understand boar, and I won't repeat it because it was just _that _rude.

Thalia raised her spear. Then Grover shouted, "Don't kill it!"

Okay, I knew he was a really nature-preserving guy, but . . .

The boar grunted and pawed the ground. That shook me into action. I galloped forward and jumped into the sky. "Dude, watch your manners!"

The boar didn't look at me, but I heard his insult in his next squeal. I'd prefer not to repeat it.

"That's the Erymanthian Boar," Zoë said, trying to stay calm—Zoë isn't the kind of person I'd describe as _calm, _but anyway—"I don't think we _can _kill it." She said that just before she and her Hunter friend jumped aside as the Boar swung its tusks at her with a huge "_REEEEEET!"_

That one I will translate: "Of course you can't kill me, petty half-bloods! I am _the _Boar! Prepare to die!"

What a lovely pig, as you can see.

"It's a gift," Grover said. Shut up, satyr! "A blessing from the Wild!"

Please shut up, please. And if not, please let that be sarcasm.

"Yeah, I feel blessed!" boss yelled. Finally! Meaningful sarcasm! "Scatter!"

They all ran in different directions as I was flying overhead. One problem: I couldn't let them know I was there, another one: it was very likely that I would get killed by that boar.

Why is my life so annoying? "It wants to kill us!" Thalia said. I guess she was scared out of her tree, like the rest of us, so she was trying to say something meaningful. Okay.

"Of course," Grover said. "It's wild!"

Why, why, why, why, why?

"So how is that a blessing?" the Hunter girl asked. Yes! Thank you!

"I AM A BLESSING BECAUSE YOU ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF _THE _BOAR!" yelled the Boar. Why do I have to be able to understand it? And he charged at her.

I tucked in my wings and plummeted to help, but the girl was faster than I thought. She rolled away from the boar with the speed and grace worthy of Zoë. She came up behind the monster as his tusks ploughed through the _Welcome to Cloudcroft _sign.

Youch.

Grover began to dance around the beast, playing his pipes. "Keep moving!" Zoë yelled. She and her Hunter girl ran in opposite directions. Thalia raised her shield—the one with the imprint of Medusa's head on it—and the boar squealed in outrage. "BEGONE, MEDUSA AND ALL OF YOUR KIN!" And he charged after them as they ran up the hill through the trees.

I followed Thalia and boss, seeing as the Boar went after them in a murderous rage. The only reason boss and Thalia could keep up was because they were going uphill over slippery ice and snow and dodging trees, whereas the Boar had bad hooves and was slipping and sliding everywhere, while ploughing through the trees as he went. Lovely house guest.

I skimmed low over the trees. "Boss! Thalia!" I yelled, trying to get their attention. I could help, Zoë wasn't here, I could make them swear not to tell on me, but they didn't hear.

The Boar, clumsy and destructive was gaining on them. "DIE PETTY HALF-BLOODS!"

"Boss!" I screamed. "Come on, you Kelp Head!"

But, as usual, he ignored me and kept running.

[You do that a lot, you know. How much did you ignore me? Well, you'll have to wait and see, won't you?]

Thalia and boss were running over the rails, and the boar was having a hard time, but he was slowly gaining on them. Up ahead was a covered tunnel, and beyond that was an old trestle bridge spanning the length of the gorge. I had a feeling I knew what boss was thinking.

Boss and Thalia ran through the tunnel and came out the other side. "No!" Thalia screamed. I shuddered mid-flight. The boar was on their tail. Why would she stop?

"Come on!" boss said. "It'll hold our weight, probably."

Don't need to worry about the 'probably', boss, I thought as I dived down to them. "Boss! I'm here! Come on, you dolt!"

"I can't!" Thalia yelled. I could see her eyes wide with fear.

The boar was _so _close. So was I. It was a race to the kids.

"Now!" boss yelled at Thalia.

She didn't move. The boar had beaten me. He was on them.

Then boss tackled Thalia sideways and they went tumbling over the gorge.

I was still diving. As the boar slipped over the edge, he smashed into me, causing me to free-fall.

I glimpsed boss and Thalia sliding down on her shield like a toboggan, I saw whiteness below me.

I couldn't get my wings to work, I couldn't move. Wind whistled past me. Then I realised why pegasi were so different.

We flew. We were unique were we were mist vulnerable. I had _enjoyed _my vulnerability of flying, of being so close to a slip-up that could cause my death.

Was that a suckish way to die?

That wasn't the part I thought of as suckish. It was that I had failed Opal, that I broke my promise.

I was being tossed by the wind as I fell, the boar squealing and screaming as he fell as well.

I could see white beneath me. Was my death presenting itself to me as a whole in the fabric of the real, living world? Or was there a chance that was just snow.

But I was falling.

Falling, falling, falling . . .

* * *

***gasp!* Cliffhanger!**

**Sorry.**

**But I had to do it!**

***sigh* I'm listening to the wrong music . . . sorry.**

**I will update soon! I swear!**

**Not on the Styx, because I freak out when I do . . . I lie in bed thinking, I didn't swear on the Styx, did I? Please tell me I didn't . . . I did! I must do that!**

**So yeah.**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**


	12. Chapter 12

**I AM ALIVE, people. **

**Sorry again for disappearing . . . last minute science project . . . just like me!**

**Anyway, this is chapter 11! Which is actually 6,000+ words! THIS IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER I'VE EVER WRITTEN.**

**I've been writing it all week . . . ****_so _****. . . **

**ENJOY!**

**Review Replies:**

**Nanu Kitty (TJ): I know, but I was just in that mood . . . cliff hangers are bad, aren't they? LOOK AT THE MoA! Yeah, I looked at your story - love it!**

**Ikb-god-of-turkeys: thanks, dude.**

**Yeah . . . I've been writing 'dude's all week . . . *sigh***

**I read the MoA for a 20th time . . . yeah, I can't get over it.**

**ITS NOT EVEN THE END OF OCTOBER AND I'VE READ IT ****_THAT MANY TIMES!_**

**I apologize for my insanity.**

**I WANT THE HOUSE OF HADES! **

**Rick is the King of Trolling, and he knows it - he LIVES for it. And it DRIVES US ****_MAD._**

**Please enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and my words**

* * *

**_Chapter 11: Junkyard for Them . . . and a Junkyard from Up High for Me_**

_POOOF! _was the noise I heard as the ground zoomed towards me. Then . . . cold. Icy cold? Like, snow?

_You _are _a foolish Pegasus, _came a voice. I couldn't think straight. There was one thing I knew: cold. Cold around me, pressing down painfully on my wings. _Uh . . . thanks?_

The cold pressed tighter around me. I guess I must be alive . . . guess that was a bit of a bummer, in a way. Then I cured myself for thinking like that. I was still keeping my promise with Opal.

I forced my eyes open, expecting to see snow.

I don't know what was the bigger shock—seeing Nyx or not actually seeing snow at all.

I was standing in a temple-like building with a high roof and black stone pillars holding it up. Nyx was seated on a marble pedestal, her dark blue _chilton _spilled over the edges. She was propped up by one elbow, her other hand twirling a black sphere of dark matter around her fingers.

I couldn't feel the cold anymore. My wings weren't hurting. "Where . . . where am I?"

Nyx smiled and made her sphere evaporate. She sat up. "You're in my temple. The one I was trapped away from in Tartarus."

I shook myself, just to make sure I was in one piece. "Well, looks like you have it back."

"Do you want to know?" she asked. "You could be dead."

I shrugged. "I could, but would that make me happy? No—I have a promise to keep."

"Ah, the Sun Filly," Nyx said. "I hate to agree with Apollo, but I advise you to be wary of her."

"What?" I yelled. "Why? What's wrong with Opal?"

Nyx looked at me sadly. "She will cause you great pain."

I rolled my eyes. "Here we go again."

Nyx looked at me serious. "You want to corrupt the Fates? You want to screw up the very foundations of the Western Civilization?"

"No."

"Then take my advice seriously!" she snapped. "I could let you die. You're lying in the snow at the bottom of the gorge. The half-bloods left a few minutes ago."

"Then why let me live, if I could be killed so many times?"

"Because you said so yourself; Pegasi enjoy their vulnerability, their lives revolve around it. Without that vulnerability, they aren't pegasi anymore."

I let my wings fall to the ground. I realised that that was a hard thing. "Then what do I have to do?"

Nyx smiled. "I sincerely hope you find out."

Then it all disappeared.

I groaned and opened my eyes. I was lying on the snow. My wings were pinned painfully in the stuff. I looked up groggily and then fell back. I rolled over and got the weight off my wings. My legs were numb. The snow around me was as cold as ever, except now I was alone.

Where had they gone? Where was I meant to go? What had Nyx said? _I hope you find out, _no offence, but that's not much.

_The night's blessed must fly west on their tail._

At last! I use my brain!

Usually when they say west, they mean to San Francisco.

A cold feeling settled over me; colder than the snow. Camp Jupiter . . .

I shook myself and got to my feet. I couldn't think about that now, or I'd do nothing at all. I had to keep moving. I thought I was over it, but I had to keep the memories from catching up, just now it was more of my dad's sad face when he was dying, that he was sorry that he was leaving Honey behind.

Camp Jupiter was my dad's home. Why should I dread going there?

I opened out my wings and jumped into the sky. I had to follow them; it was my job. That's what the prophecy said. I knew from experience that you can't try and beat prophecies.

I caught a breeze quite low for a change. I headed west, looking for two campers, a satyr and two Hunters.

* * *

I found them at nightfall. They were sitting around a fire on a barren landscape. Just seeing them was such a relief I nearly fell out of the sky when I let out an exasperated sigh.

I tumbled onto the ground and then promptly collapsed on my back. I'd found them. Thank _gods _for that. I looked up at the sky and noticed how many stars were out. "The stars are out," Zoë said. I froze for a second, then I realised that she was talking to the others at the fire—must get used to awesome upgrades at night time.

"Amazing," the other Hunter girl said. "I've never actually seen the milky way."

"This is nothing," Zoë says again. I know more than most that the stars mean a lot to her. "In the old days there was more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

"You talk like you're not human," boss said. I honestly thought he would've put it together by now. I mean, the wine—_Dionysus, _I mean—asked him to ask her for the worth of heroes, she talk like _thee _and _thy, _and the stars mean heaps to her. I could honestly say that I was disappointed.

[Put that sword away!]

"I am a Hunter," Zoë said. "I care what happens to the wild places of the world. Can I say the same for thee?"

"_You_," Thalia corrected. "Not _thee._"

"But you use _you _for the beginning of the sentence."

"And the end," Thalia said. "Not _thou. _Not _thee. _Just _you._"

"I _hate _this language. It changes too often!"

Too right, I thought. I wouldn't like to non-human to start with. Well . . . I _am _a horse . . . man, this just gets too confusing!

"If only Pan were here, he would set things right," Grover said. I'd never had anything to do with Pan, but looking at the stars . . . it did feel like we'd put up a barrier between us and the real night. That made me sad.

"Maybe it was the coffee," Grover said—hang on, did we just change subject? Oh yeah . . . sorry—there was a slight silence, like everyone was going through the same dilemma as me, for slightly longer, I might add. "I was drinking coffee, and the wind came. Maybe if I drank more coffee . . ."

Sorry, and this may sound mean, but I was pretty sure that coffee had nothing to do with the wind. I just thought . . . maybe Pan was fed up with waiting, or maybe his waiting had finally paid off. I don't know, but whatever it was, I didn't think it was caused by coffee.

"Grover, do you really think it was Pan? I mean, I know you _want _it to be," boss said.

Well, he has a point.

"He sent us help," Grover insisted. "I don't know how or why, but it was his presence. After this quest is done, I'm going back to New Mexico and drinking a lot of coffee. It's the best lead we've got in two thousand years. I was _so close._"

If they had known I was there, I probably would've given him a pitying look. He didn't know if he was going to survive this quest, so why start planning a quest of his own to find Pan? I didn't have the heart to tell him.

"What I want to know," Thalia said, "is how you destroyed one of the zombies. There are a lot more out there somewhere. We need to figure out how to fight them."

"I don't know," the Hunter girl said—I should really find out her name—"I just stabbed it and it went up in flames."

"Maybe there's something special about your knife," boss offered.

"It is the same as mine," Zoë said. "Celestial bronze, yes. But mine did not affect the warriors that way."

"Maybe you have to hit the skeleton in a certain spot," boss said.

There was a silence. I got up and walked over, staying hidden in the night. The Hunter girl looked uncomfortable with all the attention on her. I could mention that I killed one, but no one cares about the horse, do they?

"Never mind," Zoë told her. "We will find the answer. In the meantime, we should plan our next move. When we get through the junkyard, we must continue west. If we find can find a road, we can hitchhike to the nearest city. I think that would be Las Vegas."

I was about to jump in and make a comment that I had a bad experience with that place, but the Hunter girl beat me to it. "No!" she cried. "Not there!"

She looked really freaked out, like she'd just come of my back after I went for some stunts. Zoë frowned. "Why?"

The girl took a shaky breath. "I . . . I think we stayed there for a while. Nico and I. When we were travelling. And then, I can't remember . . ."

Boss's face took the expression like he's just had a really, really bad thought. I had a feeling I knew what that thought was. "Bianca," he said—Yes! That's her name!—"This hotel you stayed at. Was it possibly called the Lotus Casino?"

Her eyes widened. "How could you know that?"

"Oh, great," he said.

"Wait," Thalia said. "What is the Lotus Casino?"

"A couple of years ago," boss said, "Grover, Annabeth and I"—he seemed to internally wince, like he missed being corrected by her—"got trapped there. It's designed so you never want to leave. We stayed for a couple of hours. When we came out, five days had passed. It makes time speed up."

Jade, I thought. Jade was trapped making that time stop reaching that place—that _monolith. _

"No," Bianca said. "No, that's not possible."

"You said someone came to get you out," boss said, he seemed a lot more interested now.

"Yes."

"What did he look like? What did he say?"

"I . . . I don't remember. Please, I really don't want to talk about this."

Zoë sat forward, her eyebrows knitted in concern. "You said that Washington, D.C. had changed when you went back last summer. You didn't remember the subway being there."

"Yes, but—"

"Bianca," Zoë said, "Can you tell me the name of the president of the United States right now?"

"Don't be silly," Bianca said. She told them the correct name of the president.

"And who was the president before that?"

Bianca thought for a while. I didn't like where this was going.

"Roosevelt."

Zoë swallowed. Dread began to settle over me. "Theodore or Franklin?"

"Franklin," Bianca said. "F.D.R."

"Like F.D.R. Drive?" boss asked. I had a feeling that was all he knew about that. [What the— _You can't deny the truth, man!_]

"Bianca," Zoë said. "F.D.R. was not the last president. That was seventy years ago."

_Seventy. _That was a big number. Seven decades.

_And soon he shall witness none but the seven's._

Gee, what a lovely thought.

"That's impossible," Bianca said. "I . . . I'm not that old."

She stared at her hands as if to make sure they weren't wrinkle or laced with liver spots.

Thalia's eyes saddened. I guess she knew what it was like to be pulled out of something that ran on its own course, completely different to the reality most of us live in. "It's okay, Bianca. The important thing is that you and Nico are safe. You made it out."

"But how?" boss asked. Gee, what a comforter. Have I said that a lot? [You see!] "We were barely in there for an hour and we barely escaped. How could you have escaped after being in there for so long?"

"I told you," Bianca said. She looked like she was ready to cry. I guess it's kinda odd, but the thing I see clearest in human expressions is the way their eyebrows change. I guess that's because horses don't have eyebrows. Bianca's became slightly upturned and creased.

"A man came and said it was time for us to leave. And—"

"But who? Why did he do it?"

Before she could answer, we were all hit by a blazing light. I don't recognise many things, but the feeling that came with that light . . . I never wanted to see him again, after what he did to me.

The kids got their sleeping bags and moved away as the limo purred forward. Me? I opened my wings out slightly as the feathers turned to daggers. I narrowed by eyes and my own bubble of undisturbed darkness appeared. Ares would be sorry for coming back. I wasn't the same, weak Pegasus he git captured.

* * *

The back door slid open and a sword appeared, touching boss's throat. I nearly exploded right there. Ares had better—

The look of boss's face told me to stay calm . . . ish. Boss backed up very slowly as the owner of the blade slowly stepped out of the car. As I expected, it was Ares-I-Like-Being-Sadistic-And-Getting-Innocents-Captured-Because-I-Can-I-Want-To-Date-Myself-But-I-Can't-Figure-Out-How-So-Aphrodite-Will-Have-To-Do.

In other words, I wasn't pleased to see him. _At all._

Zoë and Bianca readied their bows at him. Zoë was glaring at him so harshly even I stopped. Bianca was much the same, but no one can come _close _to rivalling Zoë's glare. It was my firm belief that she'd spent the last two millennia perfecting it.

Ares smiled cruelly with his sword to boss's neck. "Not so fast now, are you, punk?"

"Ares," boss growled.

Ares looked out at everyone else. "At ease, people," he snapped his fingers, and their weapons fell to the ground. Zoë's glare went icy cold. "

"This is a friendly meeting," he said. For a second he glanced at me through his wrap-around shades as if to say, _nearly. _"Of course, I'd _like _to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see you. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady."

"What lady?" Thalia asked.

_The _lady, I thought, the one that the image of beauty was based on. Ares's girlfriend.

Yuck.

He lowered his sword and pushed boss away. "Thalia, daughter of Zeus," he mused. "You're not hanging out with very good company."

"What's your business, Ares?" she said. "Who's in that car?"

Ares smiled, enjoying all the attention. "Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you, particularly not _them_." He jutted his chin towards Zoë and Bianca. "Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? Only take Percy a few minutes."

"We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Ares," Zoë said.

"Besides," Grover managed, "the taco place is closed."

Ares snapped his fingers and the taco place that I hadn't noticed sudden;t burst to life. The boarded up windows and doors suddenly disappeared, the old probably century-old stains disappeared and the lights burst on. The sign flipped from _closed _to _open. _

"You were saying, goat boy?" Ares said, almost cruelly. He was cruel, period.

"Go on," boss said to them. "I'll handle this."

Boss did a pretty good try of trying to sound more confident than he was, but it was easy to see through. "You head the boy," Ares said. "He's big and strong. He's got things under control."

The others reluctantly headed over to the taco restaurant. Ares regarded boss with loathing and opened the door like a chauffeur for him. "Get inside, punk," he said. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving of rudeness as I am."

As boss climbed in, Ares sent me a glance, and I knew what he meant.

_Hello again. Come to play?_

No, I'd come to get even.

* * *

At first Ares tried the sly style. He leaned back against the closed door. "How's your wing?"

I could barely stop myself from changing the feathers. "Better than before," I said through gritted teeth.

Ares cocked his head. "Oh, not very friendly."

"What? You expect me to be?" I nearly screamed. "You break my wing—more than once, on the same night—then you hand me over to the Titans. And you expect me to be _friendly_?"

Ares bared his teeth. "Oh, you're asking for it."

"You really have no idea, don't you?" I asked, my anger rising to almost unbearable. "You've never even met Kronos!"

Ares drew his sword. "You are _so _asking for it."

I swung my wing and a feather hit the hilt, making him drop the sword. "Don't try that with me. I spend a _year _trapped on that ship with a broken infected wing that nearly _killed _me, with a rising Titan lord, a nearly-as-sadistic-as-you goddess, and you think those threats are going to scare me? I'm not afraid of death, you should know that."

Ares regarded me and took off his shades. His glowing, fiery eyes bored into me. "I know that, but you're afraid of something so _insignificant. _You're afraid of breaking a promise. You don't care about dying, you care about _that. _You ridiculous Pegasus!"

"Don't you _dare _say that!" I yelled. The light from the limo dimmed considerably. Its glowing white aura became fainter. Ares balled a fist next to his face while baring his teeth at me. "Do you want to die?"

"All my life that's never been something I've been asked," I said. "Because people have enough _brains _not to ask it!"

Ares swung his fist at me, but I wasn't there. I looked down at him from above the limo. "A bit slow, moron."

He swung around and tried to grab my wing, like he hand before, and he nearly did. But my feathers were still daggers, and as he tried to grab it I swiped them across his exposed arm. Ichor spilled from the wound.

He grimaced and pressed a hand to his arm. Within seconds, the ichor was gone. He cursed. "Stygian Iron . . . freaking Nyx and her obsessions . . ."

"What? Has Ares realised that great-aunt is smarter than him?"

Ares glared up at me. "You have a big mouth and nothing to shut it with," an evil smile crossed his face. "But something will, trust me."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why do you threaten me? It doesn't work. I'm not afraid of you."

"No, you're mad at me. You blame me for your pain."

"Because you are the one who is to blame!"

He smiled. "Yeah, blame war, blame conflict. That's it."

"I'm not talking about what you're the god of," I snarled. "_You _grabbed and broke my arm. _You _dragged me through that portal. _You _dumped me with the Titans. And what's your punishment? I'm too insignificant for Zeus to recognise. You just get blamed for his master bolt, and that's all in the past now. Some scars never fade, Ares. The ones that you were responsible for don't."

"Name _one _that I gave you."

I opened out my left wing and showed the long scar on the underside of my wing arm. "_You _did that."

He glared at me. "You _are _nothing but a raven, Night Pegasus."

"A raven-black Night Pegasus," I corrected. "One that isn't afraid of stupid war gods."

Ares's aura began to glow red. I wasn't scared in any way, though. He was the god, I was the smart aleck. Usually they die, but anyway.

"Watch where—"

"My tongue gets me. Gee, what an original line."

I jumped off the roof and pressed my face to his, glaring at him. He grabbed my muzzle, but I didn't move. "I've seen much more than you ever will, Ares."

He shoved my face away. "Artemis was right about you. Two-sided, yet the same both ways. You know what your fatal flaw is?"

"No. And I don't intend to, either, until it kills me."

Ares laughed. "It will, raven. It will."

Then he gave me a shove in the shoulder, making me stumble backwards. He opened the door and the kids started walking back. My time was up.

I watched as Ares bent down and grabbed boss's shoulder from inside the car, yanking him out. "You're lucky, punk," he said, closing the door and pushing him away from the limo. "Be grateful."

"For what?" boss shot back. I slowly walked up behind him. I hadn't realised just how tall I'd git. I was taller than _Ares. _

"For being so nice," Ares growled. "If it were up to me—"

"So why haven't you killed me?" boss asked acidly.

Ares nodded, like he'd said something intelligent. Then his covered eyes met mine, and he looked away. He knew that I actually _wasn't _afraid of him killing me. Death was one thing. You don't feel the pain of death. You just die. That wasn't something to be afraid of; you get eternity of peace afterwards.

"I'd love to kill you, seriously," Ares said. "But, see, I got a situation. Word on Olympus is that you might start the biggest war in history. I can't risk messing that up. Besides, Aphrodite thinks you're some kinda soap-opera star or something. I kill you, that makes me look bad with her. But don't worry. I haven't forgotten my promise. Some day soon, kid—_real _soon—you're going to raise your sword to fight, and you're going to remember the wrath of Ares."

"Why wait? I beat you once. How's that ankle healing up?"

Ares smiled crookedly. "Not bad, punk. But you got nothing on the master of taunts. I'll start the fight when I'm good and ready. Until then . . . Get lost."

He snapped his fingers, but in that second he sent me a final look that said, _I am cruel, expect worse from me. _And then the world did a three-sixty, and I was spraled on my back, groaning and getting to my feet. Boss's friends had caught up, the limo was gone, the taco shop was what it had looked like before, and the place was deserted.

My audience with the god of war was over. I still wasn't even.

* * *

"What did she _want _with you?" Bianca asked, once boss had told them about Aphrodite. I walked alongside them as they made their way to the junkyard.

"Oh, uh, not sure," boss lied—get some lessons from the Stolls, man—"She said to be careful in her husband's junkyard. She said not to pick anything up."

I saw Zoë narrow her eyes at boss from the corner of my eye. "The goddess of love would not make a special trip to tell thee that. Be careful, Percy. Aphrodite has led many heroes astray."

"For once, I agree with Zoë," Thalia said. "You can't trust Aphrodite."

I heard an underlying tone of bitterness in her voice—maybe disappointment? Sadness?

"So," boss said, eager to change the subject—like a boss, I might add [You see? At last you see! Don't point that pen at me!]—"how do we get out of here?"

"That way," Zoë said, pointing. "That way is west."

"How can you tell?"

Well, I could explain . . .

"Ursa Major is in the north," she said, "which means _that _must be west."

"Oh, yeah," boss said. "The bear thing."

I could just see Zoë's offended face. "Show some respect. It was a fine bear. A worthy opponent."

"You act like it was real."

"Guys," Grover cut in. "Look!"

We'd reached the crest of a junk mountain. Piles of metal objects glinted in the moonlight: broken heads of bronze horses—particularly creepy for me—metal legs from human statues, smashed chariots, tons of shields and swords and other weapons , along with more modern stuff, like gears that gleamed gold and silver, refrigerators, washing machines and computer monitors.

"Whoa," Bianca said. "That stuff . . . some of it looks like real gold."

But I had a feeling she meant something else. It _did _look like Imperial Gold.

"It is," Thalia said grimly. "Like Percy said, don't touch anything. This is the junkyard of the gods."

That was my cue to fly.

I jumped into the dark sky, soaring higher and higher until I couldn't see the kids beneath me. It was just me, the wind, the stars, and the night.

_And then he shall stay, to the stars he must see._

I'm seeing the stars right now, I thought. But I had a feeling that meant something else.

Then something bright flashed in front of me. I was thrown backwards, and when my vision cleared, I could see a guy hovering in front of me. He was wearing a business suit, shirt and tie, but with leather pants and then Roman sandals.

Odd.

"Greetings, Night Pegasus."

He did a salute. His hair was grey and messy. I couldn't tell what his eyes looked like.

"Ah, Mother has blessed one at last."

"_What?_" I asked. "Who . . ." I looked closer at him. I saw a tattoo across his hand. It read, _BLAME._

"Momus," I said. The god nodded.

"Son of Nyx," he finished. "God of blame, mockery, complaint, scorn and stinging criticism. But I haven't come for that tonight. I have no powers over it, unlike you. My mother must've been desperate . . ."

"I thought you said you weren't here for criticism."

He gave a wicked grin. "True. No, what I am here for is to give advice."

"Another one," I muttered.

"You blame Ares for your pain, and that is partly true, but the main factor is Kronos. He caused all of your pain . . . and another creature will cause you so much more."

"Mockery?"

"No, but that's a good thought, yes."

I looked down at the junkyard beneath me. Momus was idly floating there, basking in the fact that I wasn't liking this. Is it just me, or do the gods annoy me so much? Every time I meet one: _you will have great pain in your future._

Why? _Why _am I going to experience so much pain?

"What type of pain?" I asked him.

Momus leaned back leisurely, now knowing that he would annoy me. "What pain have you experienced?"

What was he playing at? But I ignored it and answered. "Physical . . . mental."

"Mental? I would say more for a broken spirit."

I ground my teeth. Those words made me feel bad in front of him. One time on a titan ship and my spirit shatters. It made me feel weak under his gaze.

"Do not be ashamed, I enjoy it when people give others blame."

"The only one I can blame for a broken spirit is myself."

Momus sat forward, raising his knee and leaning on it, even if he was floating in the sky, he looked intrigued. "Oh yeah? Hmm, that's new."

"But it's true! If I had been stronger, I could've been okay, if I—"

"Regrets don't make anyone happy, Night Pegasus."

"I know that," I said. I looked down at the ground far, far beneath me. "It's just that I have so many."

Momus shifted his posture. He crossed his legs in a meditating position and sat forward again. He scoffed. "You'd be surprised how few people can say that."

"I'm not a person," I corrected him, "I'm a horse."

"Or are you?" he said, his brow creasing and a smile curling his lips. "You said yourself that you hate being compared to a mortal horse—what sets you apart from others?"

I sighed. "I'm a Pegasus. I have wings. My strength is my vulnerability. The horse was created by the sea to be an earth creature, and eagles were made for the sky. My vulnerability is my passion. It's my life."

I hate giving philosophical responses, but I figured that Momus wouldn't go away until I gave him one. Momus nodded. "Correct. Both Zeus and Poseidon, Jupiter and Neptune, worked together to own the Pegasus. Pegasi are different because they are what they are. Just so few of them consider themselves as you do, Night Pegasus. My mother chose wisely."

"Why does everyone doubt Nyx?" I looked back at his cunning eyes. "Oh," he said idly. "Nyx was renowned for her beauty, not her realm. Some say it influenced her decisions. But I can see why she chose you above others. Half Roman . . . Half Greek . . . tied with the sun . . . so much potential."

"Why does everyone know my future but me?"

"Because," Momus said, his form beginning to glow. "It is inevitable that you will try to change it. That is why it is hidden in the riddles of a prophecy . . . giving questers a great reason to complain and lay blame."

And then he glowed, to show his true form, and I looked away. Soon the glow died, and I was alone in the night.

Then I looked below, and a giant was chasing the kids.

They'd taken something.

"Run!" Grover yelped as I dove down towards them. Zoë may hate me for being here, but she would appreciate help. They split up. Boss ended up with Bianca and Zoë, Grover and Thalia went the other way. Thalia raised her shield, and the giant swung his sword, narrowly missing me as I swerved towards the power lines to escape it. Then the sword cut the power lines in half, sending a shower of sparks and again nearly hitting me.

I catapulted backwards for a few seconds, disorientated. When I finally got my bearings and saw boss and Bianca running through the junk. Zoë shot some arrows at the huge giant but the bounced off the metal creep's face, once again—surprise, surprise—nearly hitting me.

[Look, how would you like to be in that situation? Hey, just because you _were _doesn't mean that you— you were on the _ground, _safely away from all the arrows and swords and arrows and stuff. Just keep writing!]

Boss and Bianca crouched down behind a broken chariot. I knew that wouldn't last long. Something that big would see them soon enough.

Then I remembered _their _prophecy. _One shall be lost in the land without rain. _We were in a desert. _One shall lead them high to the heavens. _Dread settled over me. Could I . . . ?

But it wasn't me. The giant loomed over boss and Bianca. "Move!" boss yelled. And they tore down the trash hill. The giant's foot smashed a crater where they'd just been.

I couldn't let them _die. _How could I let them? Time for Blackjack to . . . appear? Man, that sounded cheesy.

[Fine, it _is _cheesy.]

"Hey, Talos!" Grover yelled. Talos? As in, _the _Talos? Oh, great. This must be his prototype. Lovely. But Talos's sword was poised above them, ready to strike.

Grover played a rapid melody on his pipes. The fallen power lines began to dance. Then they shot out, wrapping around Talos's legs and shot a blast of electricity up his metal backside.

Youch.

Talos whirled round, creaking and sparking. Grover had bought them a few seconds.

I tucked in my wings and dove down. The wind whistled in my ears. This was the night, I could do this.

Then there was a blast of hot, dry wing—the same heat that surrounded Ares.

It _was _the smug head. Next time I saw him, I was going to kill him. Even if he was a god.

I lost my bearings, and crashed into a junk pile. If there's one thing that's freaking painful, it's landing in _metal._

I groaned and began to climb out of the heavy stuff. When I looked out, I saw a hole on the bottom of the giant's foot. Written on it were the words _For Maintenance Only._

"Crazy-idea time," boss's voice said. I looked around and saw him _right there. _Thank gods he didn't see me. Bianca looked at him nervously. "Anything."

Boss told her about the maintenance hole. "There may be a way to control the thing. Switches or something. I'm going to get inside."

"How? You'll have to stand under its foot! You'll be crushed."

"Distract it," he said. "I'll have to time this just right."

Bianca's jaw tightened. Boss was going to try and get in. Idiots!

I tried to get out of the junk, but it seemed to be holding me in. I had to stop them. Bosswould probably die in there—his luck had to run out at _some _point. And . . . he was going after Annabeth. I had a feeling that he'd promised himself that he'd find her. I'd made a promise too. I didn't want him to have to live with the pain of failing to keep it.

I gave such a shove that I burst from the trash, summersaulted and then came up in the air. "No," Bianca said. It jolted me into sense. "I'll go."

What? Why? She had a life! Why would she lose it so easily? She _should _live. If anyone shouldn't, I shouldn't. Nemesis was right. I _was _too lucky.

"You can't. You're new at this. You'll die."

"It's my fault the monster came after us," she said. "It's my responsibility. Here." She picked something up off the ground and pressed it into boss's hand. "If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him . . . tell him I'm sorry."

_No! _I thought, and flew forward as fast as I could. I _had _to get there first. Opal would help me forever . . . but she would understand. I hated it, but it was right.

"Bianca, no!" boss yelled from behind me. Bianca had started running. Okay, Blackjack, you dolt, do what you're meant to.

"What are you doing?" Zoë yelled. But not at me. Never at me. I was in debt to her. Maybe this was the way to pay her back.

"Get it to raise its foot!" Bianca yelled.

Zoë fired some arrows, and with those arrows, my plan became undone. I swerved to avoid one, which I shouldn't have done anyway, seeing as I was trying to go to my death, but I did. "Hey, Junk Boy!" boss yelled.

I lost track of Bianca. She couldn't have jumped—no way could she have.

Boss cut a gash in the bronze of the giant's foot. The giant looked down and raised his foot like to squash him like a bug. Boss had to turn and run. At last, I got to work.

Bianca couldn't have done it. So I dove down after boss to get him away from the foot. Sadly the foot managed to hit me with a force like a kick, so I then managed to get boss with the momentum of the kick and we tumbled into the trash again.

I sat up groggily. Then I saw Bianca.

She jumped into the giant's foot.

"No!" I screamed, but no sound came out. I couldn't make a noise. How could I have let her do that? How could I have let an innocent person that _should _be alive take the place of a horse that really shouldn't.

The monster turned to finish boss off. I got to my feet. I was _not _letting anyone else go. Never.

Grover managed to dig himself out of the trash pile. He began to play his pipes, but he looked _knackered. _I guess I would've been, too.

The music sent the power line pole forward, whacking Talos in the leg. The monster turned. Grover should've run, but he was too exhausted. He took to steps and then fell back.

"Grover!" Thalia and boss began to run towards him. I turned to the giant. "No one kills my friends and gets away with it," I muttered.

The monster raised its sword to smash Grover. I jumped into the sky, ready to get mad. Then the monster stopped. He cocked his head to one side as if hearing some strange new music. He started moving his arms and legs in some strange dance thing—boss called it the Funky Chicken, but I wouldn't know—then he made a fist and punched himself in the face.

"Go, Bianca!" boss yelled. He didn't get it. Once you're in . . . it never lets you out . . .

Zoë did, though. "She is _inside_?"

The monster staggered around, and boss looked like he'd realised that they were still in danger. Thalia and boss grabbed Grover and helped him as they ran to the highway. Zoë was ahead of them. "How will Bianca get out?" she seemed more upset than worried. She already knew. She knew there was no way out.

The giant hit itself in the head again and a shudder went through its whole body. I gave it a wide berth so I wasn't killed. That made me feel sick. I'd let Bianca do this.

It staggered towards the power lines. "Look out!" boss yelled, but it was too late, yet again.

Talos's ankle snared the lines, and blue and white sparks of electricity shot through the huge, metal giant. The monster careened back to the junkyard, and his right hand fell off and hit the ground with a horrible _CLANG!_

His left arm came loose too. He was falling apart at the joints.

Talos began to run.

"Wait!" Zoë yelled, but it was no use. No way could we keep up with the thing. I flew after it as fast as I could, but it was useless. I was too slow.

Pieces of it kept falling off as it ran. Arms, legs, everything. The giant collapsed from the top down. His head, torso, legs and so on. When the kids reached the wreckage they searched frantically, but we all knew it was no use. Zoë fell to her knees and wept. I was stunned to see her cry.

Thalia screamed in rage and impaled her spear through the giant's head. Me? I went up and stood behind Zoë. Zoë acknowledged me, but she didn't care. They had done the worst they possibly could to her. She knew I was here when I wasn't mean to, but that wasn't a problem. They'd taken Bianca.

"We can keep searching," boss said. "It's light now. We'll find her."

No you can't, I thought. Even in the darkness of night I couldn't see her. She wasn't here.

"No we won't," Grover said miserably. "It happened just as it was supposed to."

"What are you talking about?" boss demanded. But he knew now, too. We all did.

"The prophecy," Grover said to him. "_One shall be lost in the land without rain._"

I should've known. I should've, I should've, I should've!

But I hadn't.

I'd failed.

We were in a desert. And Bianca was gone.

The sun rose again, except this time Opal wasn't in front of it.

It was the second day of the quest.

Bianca had died on the first day.

* * *

**...**

**Yeah, depressing.**

**When I read that, I was like, ****_Rick isn't that bad, he'll look after her._**

**What I had failed to realise is that the story has to ****_develop, _****and it did, so it got more and more violent.**

**WHICH IS WHY I RATED THIS T.**

**So . . . yeah.**

**Sorry about my outburst in the first A/N . . . I just really want it!**

**Oh, and it's the 1st of November . . . so I was kind of incorrect . . . but you get the point - I read it on Halloween, so it doesn't count.**

**Until the next chapter,**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm back! Whoohoo!**

**Anywhoo, this is a MUCH shorter chapter, BUT it's still like 3,000+ words. **

**I said Jade had a future in this story, and she has one FAR FAR greater than this.**

**Man, I've been writing too long today, I'm thinking in formal words.**

***shudders***

**Review repies:**

**Nanu Kitty: Thanks! Yay! Can't wait to see more of Camp Odin!**

**Artemis-vs-the-hydra: thank you!**

**LazySundayGirl: Ohmygodsohmygodsohmygodsohmy gods you're back! Yes! I've missed you! yay! Thanks for all those lovely long reviews! I just get ultra excited . . . hehe . . .**

**I know! The MoA was . . . um . . . how can I put this without spoiling? It leaves a mark?**

**Me? It left me insane. I WANT THE NEXT ONE! WHY ARE YOU SO MUCH OF A TROLL, RICK?**

**The thing is, Rick KNOWS he's a troll, and he enjoys it - he ****_lives _****for it!**

**Oh, there's been a bit of an art dump on our DeviantART . . . so yeah!**

**Okay, enjoy, fellow people!**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and my words**

* * *

**_Chapter 12: Troubles of Time_**

Zoë had stayed where she was while boss, Thalia and Grover went off to find some way out. Grover was tired, so he went without complaint. Boss was too stunned.

Zoë looked up at last. "We both know that thee shouldn't be here, Night Pegasus."

"But I am," I said. "And I have my own role."

Zoë nodded. "We both know what the last line of thine prophecy means, don't we?"

"_And one shall perish by a parent's hand," _I said. "Atlas."

"Don't say his name!" Zoë said darkly. "He is no father of mine!"

"I never said he was. But . . . what are you going to do?"

Zoë got to her feet. "I have lived through many millennia. I have seen the mortals change. I have served all I could wish for. I knew my time would come at last."

"So you'll just stand there and accept it?"

Zoë touched the tip of her bow to the ground, and then made the sign to ward off evil. "I will accept it because I have evaded it for too long. I told you long ago that what I did was right but wrong, but that I have no regrets. I only despise men because of how much scum he was."

"He was known as a hero."

"He was _scum!_" Zoë spat. "If he had treated the ones he loved the best then no harm would have befallen them. He says that he hates the gods—he _is _a god! He is too vain and too filthy a man to accept it!"

I looked down at her. "Maybe you should get off your feet for a bit. You haven't slept all night."

"I need no rest," she snapped. "I must find my goddess. And so must thee."

"That's why I'm here."

She looked at me, her dark eyes full of despair. She didn't say anything for a while. "Bianca was too beautiful and innocent to die. We must send her farewell."

She swung onto my back. I took to the sky silently. Dawn was breaking, but that didn't mean anything. I was still a Pegasus, without Nyx's blessing.

Zoë said nothing, but she fired a single arrow into the sky. I looked up and see it sail up like a ribbon.

It didn't come down.

I landed not far from the truck they'd found. Zoë slipped off and walked over. I watched as the car started moving.

I glided above them, the truck was old; so it was slow. Boss and Grover were in the back, but neither of them looked up. Boss kept twirling something in his hand. I had a feeling it was what Bianca had given him to give to Nico. The thing that had caused her death.

The truck ran out of fuel at the edge of a river canyon. Thalia got out and slammed the door. The tires then promptly blew. "Great, what now?" she said angrily.

Zoë looked up at me, as if considering my help. I shook my head. No.

She nodded.

"There's a path," Grover said. "We could get to the river."

"That's a goat path," boss said. I raised a dry smile at that. I guess we do need an idiot to lighten the mood. [That was a compliment! OW!]

"So?" Grover asked.

"The rest of us aren't goats."

"We can make it," Grover said. "I think."

Boss glanced at Thalia. "No," he said. "I, uh, think we should go further upstream."

"But—"

"Come on," boss said. "A walk won't hurt us."

I landed and followed them on foot. Zoë slowed down and walked with me. I didn't know why Zoë had decided I was a friend now, but I wasn't going to complain—especially when she had a bow and many, _many _arrows.

Up ahead was a canoe rental shop was closed for the situation. Boss walked in and left a stack of drachmas with a note saying _I.O.U. two canoes. _

Zoë left me there and went off. I noticed how bad she looked. Her face was ashen and she looked as if her spirit had been drained from her.

"We need to go upstream," Zoë said. Everyone ran a critical eye over her, taking in how bad she looked. "The rapids are too swift."

"Leave that to me," boss said. He walked off to get the oars. I was left standing there awkwardly. I watched as Thalia pulled him aside. "Thanks for back there," she said.

"Don't mention it."

"Can you really . . ." she nodded to the river. Well, duh, I thought, but it seems that I have mastered an art that boss has not—keeping my mouth shut. [Oh, the envy on your face!]

"You know," she finished.

"I think so. Usually I'm good with water."

Usually, mustn't forget the usually!

[OUCH!]

"Would you think you could take Zoë?" Thalia asked him. "I think, ah, maybe you can talk to her."

You keep believing that, Thalia. I like how you failed to notice that he is a _boy_ and not a girl. [What the Hades, man?]

"She's not going to like that."

Gee, I wonder why.

"Please? I don't know if I can stand being in the same boat as her. She's . . . she's starting to worry me."

Boss looked like that was the last thing he wanted to do, but he nodded. Thalia's shoulders relaxed. "I owe you one."

"Two."

"One and a half."

I couldn't help but smile at that. Thalia went back to help Grover get the boat into the water.

Boss climbed into the water, and I got back into the sky. It's amazing how much I can fly around when there's no one riding me, and how little I can when there is.

Then the boats picked up speed. I squinted and saw the faint outlines of naiads pulling the canoes through the water.

"I hate naiads," Zoë said. Then a stream of water came up from the river and splashed her in the face. "She-devils!" she cried, and reached for her bow.

"Whoa!" boss said. "They're just playing."

I swooped down to get a closer look. Sure enough, the naiads were laughing. I was still surprised that no one had noticed me—except for Zoë.

"Cursed water spirits," Zoë said. "They've never forgiven me."

"Forgiven you for what?"

"It was a long time ago," she slung her bow over her back. "Never mind."

They sped up the river in silence for a bit, then boss said, "what happened to Bianca wasn't your fault."

Zoë slumped like her energy was gone for good, like she finally wanted to give up. "No, Percy. I pushed her into going on the quest. I was too anxious. She was a powerful half-blood. She had a kind heart, as well. I . . . I thought she would be the next lieutenant."

"But you're the lieutenant."

She gripped the strap of her quiver. I wanted to argue with her, because I knew what she was going to say. She already knew what lay ahead of her. And she was going to confront it.

"Nothing can last forever, Percy. Over two thousand years I have led the Hunt, and my wisdom has not improved. Now Artemis herself is in danger."

"Look, you can't blame yourself for that."

_I can, though, _I thought. I could've helped. I was in debt to her anyway.

"If I had insisted on going with her—"

"You thought you could've fought something powerful enough to capture a goddess? There's nothing you could have done."

Zoë didn't answer.

We all went in silence for a bit. Boss took Riptide out of his pocket. "You made this," he said.

"Who told thee?"

"I had a dream about it."

Oh dear . . . if I know Zoë, she takes dreams very, very seriously. Especially ones concerning her.

She studied him, and for a second she glanced up at me. I cocked my head as if to say, _I dunno._

"It was a gift," she said. "And a mistake."

"Who was the hero?" boss asked.

Zoë shook her head. "Do not make me speak his name. I swore never to speak it again."

_Heracles, _I thought. She shot me a glare.

"You act like I should know him."

"I am sure you do, hero. Don't all boys want to be like him?" Her voice was so bitter I wanted her to just stop. Heracles—or Hercules, bas either way, quite frankly—was a man that she hated for all eternity. I knew Zoë was a greater hero than he would ever be, because at least she showed compassion. Heracles had worn himself away.

"Your mother was a water goddess?" boss asked.

"Yes, Pleoine. She had five daughters. My sisters and I. The Hesprides."

"Those were the girls who lived in a garden at the edge of the west. With the golden apple tree, and a dragon guarding it."

"Yes," Zoë said wistfully. "Ladon."

"But weren't there only four sisters?"

"There are now. I was exiled. Forgotten. Blotted out as if I never existed."

"Why?"

Zoë pointed to boss's pen. I couldn't help but think that she must've been so broken by her family throwing her out like that to remember it so clearly.

"Because I betrayed my family and helped a hero. You won't find that in the legend either. He never spoke of me. After his direct assault on Ladon failed, I gave him the idea of how to steal the apples, how to trick my father, but _he _took all the credit."

"But—"

Boss looked down at the naiad pulling the boat. I looked ahead and saw a huge dam.

The kids stood at the river's edge, looking over the dam. Me? I soared around, there weren't any thermals or draughts or whatever, but it was good weather, and I used the most of it.

Unfortunately, now that the most painful part of losing Bianca was over, I couldn't help but look into the distance and think of Las Vegas, where Jade was trapped flying around that huge monolith of a casino building. I couldn't help but think of what it would be like, to fly around and around that monolith, nonstop, and be unable to escape, to know that the quest you went on failed, and now you were there for all eternity.

I didn't know what to do, so I had to go there.

I turned in the direction of Las Vegas and kept flying.

* * *

The monolith was still there, dark and erect as ever.

I flew around it, looking for Jade. "Jade!" I yelled. No response. "Silver Sapphire?"

"You never do learn, do you?"

Jade was flying up the tower. "I told you not to come back, Blackjack. Just as I told Guido."

"Look, Jade, I—"

I noticed that she looked paler, and that she was slower, and dimmer.

"I can't take much longer," she said. "Maybe three years at most, then the pressure of time will eat away at my spirit, and I will cease to be."

"Jade, I can get you out, I can. We can go back to Guido and—"

Jade smiled sadly. "No, I can't. You can't get me out. I don't know where I'll go after time crushes me, but I don't think it will be the underworld. When I was first trapped here . . . I heard singing, singing that said of this place's downfall."

She looked at me, even if it was like looking at a shadow puppet, two dimensional with robotic movements as she flew up the monolith. "My, you have grown, Blackjack. If only Phoenix could see you now . . ."

I looked at her, astionished, as we continued up the building. "How do you know?"

"Time causes many things. Time for life, time for death. It is only natural that the one place that has no pressure of time can feel them."

"I thought you said—"

"We keep time at bay, the pressure of it will one day eat away at me, and then another will take my place, and so on and so on. This place cannot be touched by time . . . until one who cannot be defeats it."

"What do you mean?"

"What do you make of these lines?

_The Monolith flower named,_

_That time never tamed,_

_Can be destroyed only by one that time curses,_

_Shall complete these verses,_

_And set all those Keepers of Time free."_

I shook my head. "I don't know."

Jade looked ahead. "Neither do I. It's probably more likely that it will never happen in my time. All I can say is that when this place _is _destroyed . . . they remember all those who kept time at bay."

"Keepers of Time."

Jade nodded. "I told you never to come back."

"I had to."

"Oh? Enlighten me."

"I—"

I didn't have a reason.

Jade frowned slightly. "You don't have a reason. You didn't _have _to at all. You wanted to, Blackjack, that is all I can say. While all the gods and goddesses may recognise you, the threat of danger never will."

"You sound different."

"Time has washed through many things," she said. "It is only natural that some of those effects hit us. Causing us to change . . . and then . . . we're gone."

"But how can you just _accept _that? How?"

Jade raised her face, not looking at me. "You chose a stubborn one, Nyx," she said.

"Wha—"

"Word travels fast through time. I know that you're blessed, and I know that so many others are . . . so many others that will never have to face what you will."

"Even _you _know my future but me?"

"Yes. Time is present, past and future."

She reached the top, and then she disappeared. "Jade?" I called.

"You have to start at the bottom again _sometime!_" she called.

I tucked in my wings and plummeted. Then I saw her and opened them, catching the air. Jade had an amused face. "Your future is not one anyone wants, Blackjack. It will be worse than even that Son of Poseidon's."

"Even worse than boss'?"

"You nicknamed him _boss_?"

"He saved my life—but what? Why is mine worse?"

"I can't tell you," she said. "I know that time is ruthless, try to change it, and it lets you feel its wrath. If you try to change the future you have, Blackjack, then everything is lost. That's why every person you meet won't tell you. They know that you can't mess with these things. That's why you can't understand why people stand there and accept their future, because you yourself immediately try to change it."

"Because I can try!" I yelled. I don't give up. I never just _accept _something. Never.

"Why should I have all that pain if I can avoid it?"

"If you avoid it then it will only become worse."

"How do you know?"

Jade closed her eyes. "I wouldn't."

"Then you don't know."

"I know you're destined for great things, Blackjack," she said. "But at what cost, I cannot say. Only that there will be great pain."

"What if I don't _want _pain?"

"That is not your choice to make."

"Yes it is!" I was shouting now. I didn't want to have any more pain in my life. I'd had too much already.

"What about all those feel-good things that go like 'your future is what you make it'? What about those? What about things that tell you to never give up because pain can't last forever?"

"Those things lie, Blackjack," Jade said. "Sometimes, they are true. Your future _can _be what you make it—after your role is done. Your life is your life, but what happens in it can only come about through time. The Fates are kind to some, unkind to others. Pain ends when your life ends."

"Then when does my life end?"

"I don't know," Jade said. "I think the only time I can see is the time I will live through. Things beyond that are too great for me."

"What do you mean?"

"My life is insignificant to a greater cause. That's why there is little about my life. Whereas you—you are important, you are _very _significant, Blackjack."

"But don't the significant ones die really early?"

"Usually," Jade said. "But then others . . . others are luckier, and live on."

"I know from experience that living on sometimes isn't a lucky thing."

Jade gave pained look at me. "I know. Just . . . that news was delivered to me."

"By who?"

"Guido. He came, not long ago—you might be able to catch up to him."

"Wait, Guido was _here_?"

"Guido's different . . . he has a secret just like you."

"What do you mean?"

"Our family has always been tight, there has always been a flame in us them bound us together. It seems that now . . . the gods have finally found us."

"What do you mean, Jade?"

"When all else fails, seek the warmth of the hearth, seek the warmth of company, and seek the warmth of many family members gathered around."

"There isn't much of my family left."

"Your family by blood may have dwindled, leaving you rooted everywhere, letting you go anywhere, but there is more than one type of family."

"And what would that be?"

"Every family is bound by love. What is love? Ask Aphrodite. That boy—Perseus, right?—he'll know. Not too much longer to wait before you all stumble in on something far too great for one person to take on alone. In that time, you'll need family—you'll need love. Something that she will never have."

"What—_she_?"

"She, Her, Mother, all those people. You get the picture."

"No. And you've changed again."

"Time's changing. That's why."

"Just that one . . . it's hazy, like I won't see it . . . I have a feeling that will be long after my time."

"But you just said it was soon."

"Soon for some, long for others, take your pick."

"That doesn't matter if I won't be there."

"Oh, don't doubt the length of time you'll live. Sometimes you have to stay positive."

"This time thing's really freaking me out now."

She smiled. "Thought so. In five minutes there will be two big bronze things in the sky—that's your cue to go."

"What about you?"

"What about me? My time will come soon enough."

"Why do you all just accept that?"

"Funny, the way time moves," Jade said idly. "You start somewhere . . . and you always manage to finish on the same note."

"In English, please?"

Jade gave a small laugh. "I'm glad Guido has a friend like you. That boy—the one you call boss—he'll be glad to have you as a friend. And I guess I can say that you'll have to wait a while for those doughnuts."

"That's a bummer."

I looked out into the sky, and saw two bronze figures. "That wasn't five minutes."

"More like thirty seconds—mind you, you're technically in the orbit of this place, so time speeds up."

"What a relief."

"That's not a relief," Jade said, all traces of humour gone. She sighed. "Blackjack, I mean it when I say that Phoenix would be proud. You're a greater Pegasus than he ever was."

"How can you—" I was angry. How could she insult my father like that?

"I'm not insulting him," she said. "I'm telling you his final words."

"Wha . . . what?"

"'If my son ever finds one who knows these words, tell him that he is greater than I will ever be, and ever was.' Those are it."

His final words. About me.

I stopped, watching the bronze figures come closer.

I flew to catch up with Jade, and managed to say, "You're a good Pegasus, Jade. But I don't control Fate."

"That's exactly what they want," she said. "That's why you can't change your fate, my friend. That's why Fate is something to be feared and desired, something painful and peaceful, something that starts, and something that ends."

And she reached the top of the monolith, and I kept flying upwards towards the huge bronze figures.

One day, I told myself, Jade would be free.

One day, this would all end, and we would have time to remember who we lost.

I followed Hank and Chuck through the sky as they headed to San Francisco.

Then how had they ended up in Las Vegas?

_Fate is many things, _I heard in my head. It was like Jade's voice, only . . . richer, and younger.

_Small things can be controlled, and then larger things are too be feared to be controlled. Fate is beyond us, and within us. Every one of us has a fate, whether we want it or not._

_Painful or Peaceful._

Las Vegas melted away, and I blinked. When I opened my eyes, we were somewhere else, heading to San Francisco.

West.

* * *

**Da-da-da-da!**

**Whoohoo! We have chapter 12 done - well, chapter 13, but we won't go there.**

**Any minor ideas for what you'd like to happen? I'm open! I just have the major plot out there . . . minor stuff I can do.**

**Oh, ah, Nanu Kitty, when you named one of your characters Owl, can I used "Nanu" and "Kitty" as names? Because I have this awesome idea and I really need names for these characters, so . . . can I? *puppy eyes***

**Man, that's cheesy.**

**Anyway, until the next chapter (is it just me or do I ****_always _****say that?)**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hellohellohello! I'm sorry I disappeared, and I have reasons, but I figured you guys don't care about that and are just mad at me for being so long so you just want to jump to the action! And no, I won't argue with that.**

**Review replies:**

**trustingHim17: thanks!**

**Nanu Kitty: Thanks for that - I'm gonna have so much fun now . . . *evil laugh* well, the PMing worked now, so okay! - and no telling of that! That is classified stuff, and knowledge is power, my fluffy friend.**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and my words**

* * *

**_Chapter 13: I Watch Santa's Evil Twin Get Wrestled by Boss_**

I know, I'm so helpful. [You have realised I'm laughing, right? Mwahahahaha! Yes, I can do a very good evil laugh. Would I ever go evil? _No. _You have _no idea._]

Anyway, I was flying along net to Hank and chuck, the Big Bronze Angel Zeus Engines, and I got to get an earful of Thalia and co.

"Tell me when it's over," Thalia said. Her eyes were tight shut, and she looked ready to puke. "Everything's fine," boss said. Okay, so when people ask a legit question you have a nice comforting answer, and then when someone needs comforting you're just like . . . sarcastic? [OUCH!]

"Are . . . are we very high?"

I decided to have a look. We were flying high over some snowy mountain ranges. "Nah," boss said. "Not that high."

"We are in the Sierras!" Zoë yelled. Nice one. "I have hunted here before. At this speed, we should be in San Francisco in a few hours."

I had to say, she looked better. She caught my eye, and I knew why. When I had been a train-wreck after the Titans, keeping on the move, trying to race the memories away, I felt better. It had taken months for me to get on my feet again.

"Hey, hey, 'Frisco!" said Hank. "Yo, Chuck! We could go see those Machine Monument again! They know how to party."

"Oh, man," Chuck said. "I am _so _there!"

"You guys have visited San Francisco?" boss asked them. I shook my head. I have to admit, his ignorance was entertaining. Dude, _everyone _had been to San Francisco. It's Roman land, that's how they keep track of them, how to keep the two camps apart. Yeah, it took me a while, didn't it? Well, _sorry!_

"We automations gotta have some fun once in a while," Hank said. "Those machines took us over to the de Young Museum and introduced us to these marble lady statues, see. And—"

"Hank!" Chuck cut him off. "They're kids, man."

I was busy laughing my guts out, Zoë looked insulted at being called a kid, and boss looked like he was contemplating whether Hank was blushing—he _definitely _was.

"Oh, right." The statue said. "Back to flying."

The statues sped up, and it was so fast I had to _try _to keep up. Pegasi can really pour on the speed if they want, but I didn't—you have _no idea _how tyring that is, unless there's _doughnuts!_

Eventually I got bored and began to place quiet bets on whether Zoë could hit the billboards or not, she'd snap something like, "do not question they goddess," but even she went smug when I was proved wrong.

Which, quite frankly, I get a lot.

Grover started playing his Reed Pipes, and that began to get my mane in a knot, so I tried to block it all out. Sadly, that never seems to work. _Why? _

I realised that Sir Stupid-Comments-A-Lot hadn't said much. That's the think—when Annabeth was there to prove him wrong, he'd never shut up! When Annabeth _wasn't _there to prove him wrong, when he could actually be _right, _he shut up!

Why is that kid _so darn annoying? _

"You did good back there," he said after _ages. _"Zeus listened."

It was hard to tell whether Thalia wanted to zap him or hug him—or possibly something in between, maybe skewer him—with her eyes closed.

"Maybe," she said. "How did you get away from the skeletons in the generator room, anyway? You said they cornered you."

He then jumped into an explanation of this weird girl, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, who sounded a lot like a certain pegasi I knew—*cough*Felicia*cough*—who never shut up, whether she was right or wrong. In short: she was queen of all gossip around the world.

Except this mortal could actually see through the Mist. The Mist had me thinking a lot lately, I mean, the kids hadn't seen the Lotus Casino for what it was, because they went into it, and I knew Annabeth was a heck of a lot sharper than she let on, so how was she fooled? And then there was the fact that no one had picked up on me being a Night Pegasus, except Opal . . .

Then Opal was another matter altogether, and if I start talking you'll never get me to shut up so I won't. You should all be sending thanks to me—at Blackjack Night Pegasus, Camp Half-Blood, Long Island Sound, New York, USA.

"Some mortals are like that," Thalia said, jolting me from my smug head. "Nobody knows why."

Something went over boss's face. I hadn't seen that look before—realisation? An outlandish, strange, bizarre thought that wouldn't leave them alone until they said it aloud?

"Well, the girl was annoying," he said, doing his best to wipe the look from his face—in all due respect, he did it pretty well—"But I'm glad I didn't vaporize her. That would've been bad."

Thalia nodded. "It must be nice to be a regular mortal."

She sounded like she'd given that a lot of thought. I had thought that _so _much, but I would never agree to it if offered. I may hate the guts of my life all the time, but I wouldn't give it up for the _world. _

Maybe because Opal was in it?

* * *

"Where you guys want to land?" Hank asked. How long had it been since I'd drifted off mid-air? Um . . . more on that later. The point was, it _had _been night, and I'd slept on the wing—it's not too bad, actually, as long as you don't, you know, plummet to your death.

Boss looked down at the city below us and breathed, "Whoa."

I looked at the city that reached out in all directions. To be honest, I don't think much of cities—I mean, sure there's Olympus, but dude, that's the home of the _gods. _Mortal cities just don't strike me as that impressive. If they made one that floated, then sure, I'd go check it out, but alas, they were behind on that idea so far.

What I did see though, was the Golden Gate Bridge that stretched out into the mist. Around the city were hills and mountains. I muttered "Bay area," under my breath. But the Golden Gate . . . I found that cool. The mortals had made something _freaking cool, _and well, that's what I thought of it. I guess it was like a cool upgrade or something, but I could picture it at night, with bright lights along the road. I had a feeling that _was _what it looked like.

Did things make an imprint in the night that I could see? Maybe I should like, assign a day of the month to think of these things. More on that too later.

"There," Zoë said, pointing to a building/tower thing with a clock on it. "By the Embarcadero building."

"Good thinking," Chuck said. "Me and Hank can blend in with the pigeons."

Every one of us looked at him, including me. "Kidding," he said. "Sheesh, can't statues have a sense of humour?"

Luckily for those guys, there wasn't much need for blending in. It was early morning, maybe seven, or even six, and there weren't many people around, except for the homeless guys that lived on the pier behind the building. I saw three joggers, but they had enough sense to stay away from the strange, fleshy things called mammals, such as humans and an avian/equine. Gods, am I going scientific? I'm starting to worry myself. Must think about this later, Blackjack!

After the kiddos had said goodbye to Hank and Chuck, or the "Metal Angles from Mars", as that homeless guy we freaked out on the dock said as he ran off, we waited around for a bit. I landed and stretched my wings, which I could practically imaging _glowing _with eat from how long I'd been in the air. Sure, it wasn't uncomfortable, but it was . . . odd? It's been a while since I've flown for that many hours straight, okay? Give the horse a break! [Knock it off! I'm the one who saved your sorry butt so many times!]

"But how?" boss said to himself. I find that annoying, when you question something you're thinking out loud and everyone thinks you're insane. Yes, from experience, people.

"Nereus," Grover said suddenly.

"What?" boss asked.

"Isn't that what Apollo told you to do? Find Nereus?"

_Nereus. _That rang a bell . . . had I heard Porkpie talking about him once? Oh yeah—something about bad smells and the answer to all questions. Or something.

I do really well to tuning out of certain things, as you can see. Of course, most of the stuff I thought of as unnecessary was back _before _I knew I was a Night Pegasus and that I was following kids like boss across the country with death around every corner, laughing at my small, ridiculous and petty hide that they took _oh so much _joy in squashing with a big, hairy, ugly fist.

Sorry, did that sound bitter? Not my life—gods no, I have nothing against Night Pegasi! Titans that love to kill me and be sadistic? Um . . . let me think about that . . .

That was sarcasm, you realise that, right? [*sigh* Yes, I do. I would've thought one of the biggest smart alecks at camp could pick up on that. What? Never mind.]

"The old man of the sea," boss said. "We're supposed to find him and force him to tell us what he knows. But how do I find him?"

Zoë made a face like I'd shoved Butch's rake under her nose. The one that cleans out the stalls, mind you. "Old Nereus, eh?"

"You know him?" Thalia asked. I am such a smart aleck and was struggling to hold back a smart response that would get me whacked upside the head id my buds—or even Opal—had been there.

"My mother was a sea goddess. Yes, I know him. Unfortunately, he is never very hard to find. Just follow the smell."

"What do you mean?" boss asked, I couldn't help but crack up at his face. He didn't seem too anxious to find out.

"Come," Zoë said, with a _distinct _lack of enthusiasm, I might add. "I will show thee."

* * *

When they stopped at Goodwill drop box, I started laughing so hard I think I lost a few feathers. Five minutes later, they had boss outfitted in a huge, ragged flannel shirt, a pair of jeans three sizes too big, bright red trainers and, to top it all off, a floppy rainbow hat.

What a lovely combination. [Ow! Geez, man.]

"Oh, yeah," Grover said, trying and failing majorly to not laugh his furry got butt off. "You look completely inconspicuous now."

Zoë nodded with satisfaction. "A typical male vagrant."

I'm offended.

"Thanks a lot," boss grumbled. "Why am I doing this again?"

I walked a bit closer. I had a feeling no one would notice me, most never do. Except Zoë.

It was _always _Zoë. Gee, not being human at all can be really annoying.

"I told thee. To blend in."

Words of wisdom from the head of _Boys Are Ridiculous Monthly_. I mean, what's wrong with boys? We're practically girls, we just . . . see the world from the other side of things to them. I guess that's a mild way of putting it.

Zoë led boss all the way down the waterfront. After a long, boring time spent searching the docks—for them, I was gliding around, being the usual—Zoë finally stopped at a bunch of homeless guys that were huddled together with blankets, waiting for the soup kitchens to open for lunch.

Hey, I may be an avian/equine/Night Pegasus/Not in any way human, but you mortals have become pretty readable, so I know how the mortal world works pretty darn well, okay?

"He will be down there somewhere," Zoë said. "He never travels very far from the water. He likes to sun himself during the day."

"How do I know which one is him?" boss asked. Hey, that's a legit question, which was new for him. Gee, the lack of Annabeth was really getting to him, wasn't it? [OW!]

"Sneak up," Zoë advised. "Act homeless. You will know him. He will smell . . . different."

"Great," boss said. I had a feeling he wouldn't ask for particulars. "And once I find him?"

"Grab him," she said. Spoken like a true Hunter—you see a man: 'Grab it! Force questions from it!'

"And hold on. He will try to get rid of thee. Whatever he does, do not let go. Force him to tell thee about the monster."

"We've got your back," Thalia said. Then she picked something off the back of the shirt, something I figured was pretty gross. "Eww. On second thought . . . I don't want your back. But we'll be rooting for you."

Grover gave him a big thumbs up. I glided down for a closer view. I can be so mean, can't I? Hey, this is _boss _we're talking about. You know where people are like, 'friends will always be like, _you're doing something dangerous? Be careful!'_ but best friends will be like, '_you're doing _what?! _I gotta see your face when you do that!'_

That was like me.

Boss grumbled stuff like how nice it was to have super-powerful friends and headed towards the dock.

Boss pulled down his cap and stumbled like he was about to pass out, as I could imagine, after about a week on the go. He passed his homeless friend from the Embarcadero, who was trying to warn his friends about metal angles from Mars. I found that funny.

I swooped down and took a whiff. No, just plain old bad.

I think he saw me, because he changed it to 'Flying black horses from Mars', and to be honest, I don't like being associated with the war god. Even the Roman side of him.

Boss walked past an old lady with a bunch of pink plastic flamingos sticking out of a shopping cart. She gave boss an evil eye like he was about to steal her birds. Righto . . .

At the end of the pier, there was an old dude in a fuzzy bathrobe that probably used to be white. He looked about a million years old and had passed out in the sunlight. He was fat, and he had a beard like Santa Claus—yes, I know who that is—except that it had gone yellow. Yeah, he definitely looked like Santa's evil twin—one that had been dragged through landfill, _mortal _landfill.

I swooped down for a whiff and nearly passed out right there. That guy sure as heck smelled bad. And the type of ocean bad, like the smell you get when there's fish washed up on the shore and they want to make you black out. I could go one about the stuff that washes up, but I _really _won't, seeing as, if you'll remember, I've been one of those things that have washed up on the shore.

Boss then figured this was the man he was looking for. He sat down near Santa Claus' Evil Double, and the guy opened an eye. Boss then muttered some stuff about stupid parents and school. Santa closed his eye.

And then boss jumped him.

To tell the truth, it looked plenty weird from up there. When boss had tried to jump him, Nereus had, um, how to put this . . . ? Jumped him instead? Yeah, that's about right.

"Ahhhhh!" he screamed. Ooh, that's new. He and boss rolled down the pier. "Help me!" Nereus screamed again, which was hard to take him seriously because boss's face was tight with pain. Youch.

"That's a crime!" said one homeless guy. "Kid rolling an old man like that!"

Oh, they rolled all right. Right down the pier until boss smashed his head against a post. My head throbbed in sympathy. Time to help? I guessed so, unless boss used his brain—*shudder*.

I dove down as boss tackled Nereus back down after he tried to make a break for it. Nice one, boss.

"I don't have any money!" he tried. But Boss held on, he looked like the smell was driving him mad with how bad it was, and I could smell it from here. I opened out my wings and soared towards them.

"I don't want money," boss said as he held on. "I'm a half-blood! I want information!"

That made the old guy struggle harder. "Heroes!" he spat. "Why do you always pick on me?"

"Because you know everything!"

Well, that was true. I was about three metres away, and then . . . something nicked my wing, causing me to veer away. I don't like things hitting my wings. I use those things!

I looked down to see an object sail into the water and land with a _splash! _I looked towards Zoë, and she was holding her bow. She shook her head. Meaning, _no, don't interfere._

Gee, everyone has _oh so much _faith in me!

Nereus growled and tried to shake boss off his back. They thrashed around, and began to stagger towards the water. Then boss—cue the surprise—got an idea?!

"Oh, no!" he said. "Not the water!"

Nereus grinned wickedly and yelled in triumph, before launching them both off the pier into San Francisco bay.

I circled and had a look, before being rudely interrupted as I had to dodge a huge Killer Whale leaping from the water with boss holding onto his dorsal fin. Boss even managed a wave to the crowd. Good gods—is he getting better at this?

No! Never!

[You _did _see the sarcasm there, right? Yes? Good. OUCH!]

The whale dived back under. I circled again, and this time they didn't try and smash me out of the sky.

Nereus collapsed on the edge of the boat dock, heaving and gasping. Boss was grinning. Why, you might ask? I have no _freaking _idea.

"You got him!" Zoë yelled.

"You don't have to sound so amazed," boss said protectively. Really? That means I do!

Nereus moaned, "Oh, wonderful. An Audience for my humiliation! The normal deal, I suppose? You'll let me go if I answer your question?"

"I've got more than one question," boss said. Um . . . no, blissful ignorance! I glided down and landed on the pier. I made some noise walking down, but no one looked up. Why am I so unimportant?! It was driving me _up the wall. _Everyone knows that _the _Blackjack was important! [What's that look for?]

"Only one question per capture! That's the rule."

Ah, well, um, that's Nereus for you. Hey, I'm allowed to not like they guy! Especially after that . . .

Boss looked at his friends. Zoë glanced at me. I raised my folded wings in a shrug. No ideas.

Boss mulled over the question, and then at last he came to a conclusion. He sighed. "All right, Nereus. Tell me where to find this horrible monster that could bring an end to the gods. The one that Artemis was hunting."

The old man smiled, showing his missy, green teeth. I gaged. "Oh, that's too easy," he said evilly. He pointed at the water at boss' feet. "He's right there."

"Where?" boss asked.

"The deal is complete!" Nereus gloated, and transformed into a goldfish, before jumping into the water with a small _plop!_

"You tricked me!" boss yelled at the water where the goldfish had disappeared.

"Wait," Thalia said, her eyes widening. "What is _that?" _

"_MOOOOOOOO!"_

Then something tapped my shoulder. I whirled around and saw old Nereus. "Something tells me you have a question too, steed."

That's an annoying thing: the kids get called heroes, and the horse gets called steed. What about Night Pegasus, eh?

He grinned wickedly and jumped into the water, before transforming into a seal and swimming through the water. Something in me ignited—curiosity? And I surged after him.

He was fast, even after he had supposedly been beat at the pier before. He led me to a group of seals on some rocks at the edge of the bay—and I'm not sure if you've ever smelt seals, but they sure don't smell _nice, _that's for sure.

He popped from the water and changed back to human form. "So, what's your question? What is the golden past behind that filly? What is this pain you'll feel? What is the fate of the world that you will be part of?"

I hovered in the spot. I ground my teeth. What could I say?

"Oh, you _are _like your father," Nereus snarled. "He too lacked the courage of the truth."

That made me flare in anger. I swung a armed wing at him and it hit the rocks beneath his armpit. "Ah," he said. "So you _are _the Night Pegasus Tartarus has been thrown into uproar about."

"What do you mean?" my eyes narrowed at him. Could I trust his words, after all?

"Oh, the one that Nyx has had her throat placed on the line for," he said. "The one that Tartarus has massed against her—a primordial blessing a Pegasus? Unspeakeable!"

"You're talking about it just fine."

"Because I _hear _stuff, steed. I heard that your mother is blind in an eye—you know why? She was too afraid to stop the gods punishing her. And your father, Phoenix, he recently—"

Two dagger-feathers suddenly landed on either side of his neck, crossed over so he was trapped like he was wearing a collar. "Don't say a_ word _against my parents!"

Fear clasped the old man's face for a second. Then he wiped it away. "Your father didn't dare tell the other camp about the Greeks."

"Gee, I wonder why!"

"Wisdom can be fuelled by fear, horse. Your mother was afraid to go against the gods, yet she did. She was a _fool, _and then your father, he should've had more sense—"

"_Shut up!_" I exploded. "What about you, then? What I've heard about _you _haven't been all too good either. You know what? I'm guessing you hear rumours. You should know how strong rumours can be. What if I were to tell a false rumour about yours truly? What then?"

Nereus gulped. I was on a roll. "My parents aren't _cowards. _My father knew that if he blabbed, then war would break out, people would die, and everyone would be hurt."

Nereus suddenly had the nerve to laugh. "Oh, there are _other _rumours, steed. Worse things than _that _are going to happen."

"If _I _were talking to a mad Night Pegasus with daggers at his command, I would shut up, don't you think?"

Nereus narrowed his eyes. "What's your question, then?"

What? Did I need a question?

"Why did Helios fade?"

Did I think about that? No! I just spat it out! Geez!

Nereus laughed. "Helios was an old-fashioned fool! It was his undoing! Unable to come to terms with the times, it made him weaker, until part of him was lost, and then it all crumbled to nothing."

"Then why is the sun chariot still around?"

"Only one question!" Nereus snapped. "Now, release me!"

"You know what?" I said. "No. You insult my father _on his grave, _and then you have ago at my mother. I'm not going to. You know what else? Sometimes, if my parents _are _cowards, which they _aren't, _then get this: in mortal maths, two negatives make a positive. Thought of that, Ole Nut Brains?"

Nereus bared his teeth. "You aren't mortal. Rumours get around fast."

"Exactly," I said. "I'm a Night Pegasus! You know what makes me different even from pegasi? I'm _the _manifestation of loose ideas!"

And then I turned and flew after the kids.

When I got there, I guess I put my anger to good use.

Zoë had shot two quick arrows that had exploded at the feet of the guards of the manticore—you mean there wasn't one before? Never! They couldn't have gotten _attacked, _could they? [You saw the sarcasm?] I mean, who does that to _innocent little kids?_—the manticore then shot spines in their directions but they ricocheted off boss' lion skin coat.

"Grover," boss yelled. "tell Bessie to dive deep and stay down!"

Oh yeah, and there was this cow-serpent monster thingy there as well. Aw, boss had a new friend! [OUCH!]

"_Moooooo!" _Grover yelled. I guess the cow got the message because it disappeared.

"The cow . . ." Thalia muttered in a daze.

"Come on!" Boss pulled her along the pier, up the stairs and onto the shopping centre on the pier. They dashed around the nearest store as the manticore yelled, "Get them!" and the minions shot blindly into the air.

They scrambled to the end of the pier. They hid behind a little kiosk filled with souvenir crystals. Um . . .

I turned back to the monsters. One of the minions turned and shot at me, but as I galloped towards him I blocked it with my daggered wings and then swung come at him. They caught him square in the chest and sent him flying backwards, where he exploded in golden dust. The manticore turned to me. "What have we here?" he said in a deathly calm voice. "My, is this the talk of Tartarus?"

"You mean the Night Pegasus?" I laughed, and then shot a volley of daggers at him. None of them wounded him, but it surprised him. When he recovered from his shock, I snarled, "Yeah."

The monster scowled and then shot some spines at me. I blocked them with my wing and then threw more daggers. You'd be surprised how action packed throwing stuff at each other can be. In the end I went classic. When he was drawn back for a thrown I launched myself at him and gave him a good kick that sent him flying down the pier. Before he could recover I took off.

"Coward!" he yelled after me.

"Are we calling names? Oh, okay! IDIOT!"

I'm so smooth at these things.

I swerved around and saw boss yell into an Iris-message. Harsh.

Then I saw that it was Mr D. Okay, I reconsider.

"Is that how you say hello?" he asked casually, like we _weren't _about to die.

"Hello," boss said. "We're about to die! Where's Chiron?"

Mr D considered that. I heard noise behind and looked back. The manticore's troops were closing in.

"About to die," Mr D mused. I snapped back to him. "How exciting. I'm afraid Chiron isn't here. Would you like me to take a message?"

Boss looked up at his friends. "We're dead."

I don't think that was a message Mr D was thinking of taking, but anyway . . .

Thalia gripped her spear. She looked her usual angry self. "Then we'll die fighting."

"How noble," Mr D said, yawning. "So what is the problem, exactly?"

I glanced back and then galloped towards the advancing ranks, shot a volley of daggers and then managed to stay out of shot of bullets—but the freaking manticore clipped my ribs.

To say that it was painful is like saying that I have a slightly rocky life: the understatement of the freaking century. I thought I knew pain; I'd lived on a Titan ship for a year being tortured mercilessly, and yet this shocked me. Why should it hurt? I mean, getting flogged by Nemesis with her lash hurts like blazers, so why did this hurt?

_Because it's poisoned, you dolt! _

It was. Already the cut was puffing up and turning green. I winced and then turned to the monster. "Oh, you are _so _in for it now!"

He advanced, but then he saw the kids behind me. "There!" he screamed, and they all ran past me. I took out a few, but I couldn't hold them all off.

They surged forward onto the kids, and then . . . purple?

I felt like I'd been shaken around like a maraca for a second, and there was this huge sigh all around me. The sky went tinged with purple. I smelt something like grapes but too sour—wine.

_SNAP!_

It was the sound of so many minds breaking at the same time. Mr D hadn't been kind to me, he tried to break mine, but I had a feeling that the gods were getting wary of me, because I didn't even think about it. It was like a tap in the head, and I shoved it away. I had been close to madness before, and I guess my mind had recovered and strengthened, because I wasn't mad.

I was hoping that was a good thing.

Around me, the manticore's minions went nuts. Some dropped their guns and started waltzing with each other; one started doing some Irish dance thing. One put his gun in his teeth like a dog with a bone and dropped to all fours, before running past me.

I stared around in horror. This wasn't madness, this was something far, far worse, something only a god as ruthless as Mr D could cook up.

"No!" screamed the manticore. "I will deal with you myself!"

His tail bristled, but then the planks under his paws erupted into grapevines that immediately began wrapping around the monster's body. As they tightened, they sprouted leaves, until he was wrapped up in leaves and ripe grapes like a huge cocoon. Then it stopped shivering, and I had a distinct feeling that the manticore had gone to spread the latest gossip in Tartarus as he re-formed. Mr D was definitely ruthless.

Gods, it's hard to take that seriously—Mr D, ruthless?

Trust me, you don't want to make that mistake.

"Well," said Mr D in the Iris-message. "That was fun."

Boss turned and stared at him, horrified. "How could you . . . how did you—"

"Such gratitude," the god muttered. "The mortals will come out of it. Too much explaining to do if I made their condition permanent. I hate writing reports to Father."

He stared at Thalia. "I hope you learned your lesson, girl." The ice in his tone made me look closer at the iris-message. "It isn't easy to resist power, is it?"

Thalia blushed like she was ashamed.

"Mr D," Grover said in amazement. "You . . . you saved us."

"Mmm. Don't make me regret it, satyr. Now get going, Percy Jackson"—did I hear that right? Did Mr D just call boss . . . his _actual name?_—"I've bought you a few hours at most."

"The Ophiotaurus," boss said. "Can you get it to camp?"

Mr D sniffed. "I do not transport livestock. That's your problem."

"But where do we go?"

Dionysus looked at Zoë. "Oh, I think the Huntress knows. Yu must enter at sunset today, you know, or all is lost. Now goodbye. My pizza is waiting."

"Mr D," boss said, sounding—it's true!—a bit shaken. "You called me by my right name." The god's eyebrows were raised. Oh dear. "You called me Percy Jackson."

"I most certainly did not, Peter Johnson. Now off with you!" He waved his hand, causing the message to disconnect.

All around us, the manticore's minions were still completely bonkers. One of them had found that homeless guy and they were having a serious conversation about angels from mars—metal angels _and _horse angels. Ah, publicity.

Boss looked at Zoë. "What did he mean . . . 'the huntress knows'?"

Her face was pale. She pointed across the bay, past the Golden Gate Bridge. In the distance, a single mountain rose up above the cloud layer.

"The garden of my sisters," she said. She glanced at me. "I must go home."

_The sunset, _I heard something in the wind, soft and barely audible. _Where the night hesitates. Or, where the night chases his ever elusive sun._

* * *

**Whooooooohoooooooo!**

**Yay! Okay, I just thought I'd add that that is 12 pages . . . so . . . yeah!**

**Um, there you hve it! Please stick around!**

**I need to ask you, is Bj getting progressively more OOC? I can't help think that he is . . .**

**Oh well, until the next chapter,**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**


	15. Chapter 15

**Righto! I am BACK! Whoohoo! Okay, here we are, Chapter 14, done and dusted that I may or may not have said was going to be posted yesterday . . . *nervous laugh***

**Review Replies:**

**Nanu Kitty: Thanks for that. And, well, here it is. I'm not sure how that applies to me, but it sounds cool!**

**Okay, there has been the mother of all art dumps on DeviantART, so please check it out, okay? *puppy eyes* PLEASE?**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCS and my words**

* * *

**_Chapter 14: I Get Fried_**

"We will never make it," Zoë said. "We are moving too slowly. But we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus."

"Mooo," Bessie said as I glided next to the kids running along the waterfront. "And you think _you've _got poblems," I muttered.

Unless I was imagining it, the so-called 'all innocent' monster shot me a dirty look. The kids we jogging up towards the Golden Gate Bridge, they'd left the shopping centre pier thing far behind. [So? Yeah, I know what a screen-saver is, and you're commenting that I can't be bothered to find out the real name of that thingy? And yes, 'Bessie' did that. Sure, he's nice to _you, _but no one ever notices the horse, do they?!]

"I don't get it," boss complained. "Why do we have to get there at sunset?"

"The Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset," Zoë explained. I glanced at boss, seeing his trademark look of confusion. Some things—even in the world that I'm in today—never, _ever _change. [WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!]

"We can only enter their garden as day changes to night," Zoë finished. The night part? I was cool with that. This 'sunset' thing was creeping me out though. I didn't know why. _Day changes to night . . . where the sun hesitates before dropping below the horizon . . . _why was this so . . . hauntingly familiar? Oh yeah, because they fit in with the _you will experience great pains. _I have such a brilliant life, don't I?

"What happens if we miss it?" boss asked. Oh, right, simple: Artemis not at gods' council, lots and lots of yelling, world likely goes _BOOM! _Got it? "Tomorrow is the winter solstice. If we miss tonight, we will have to wait until tomorrow evening. And by then the gods' council will be over. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."

"We need a car," Thalia said. Or, I thought, flapping my wing in a way that sent a draught of air at Zoë, you could use a Pegasus. She looked at me, and her eyes narrowed. No.

And I thought I was stubborn. [And you're not?]

"But what about Bessie?" boss asked. Oh, you think of the cow _now. _

Grover came to a dead stop. "I've got an idea!"

Oh dear.

"The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"

"Well, yeah," boss said. "I mean, he was in Long Island Sound. Then he just popped into the water at Hoover Dam. And now he's here."

"So maybe we should coax him back to Long Island Sound," Grover said, looking more and more excited as he went on. "Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus."

Right . . .

I touched down next to Zoë she whacked my shoulder when I got too close. "What?" I whispered.

"Thou should not have landed."

"Thou should not have shot thee down with a freaking _arrow_."

Zoë cracked a smile. "Smart aleck."

I straightened and shook m mane. "At your service."

"Moo," Bessie said forlornly. He shot me another dirty look. I stuck my tongue out at him and shook my wings. He then stuck _his _tongue out. Come on, that's copyright, yeah?

Bessie here didn't care.

"I . . . I can show him," Grover said. I froze. _That _I was not expecting. "I'll go with him."

Wasn't this the Grover that _really _shouldn't be trusted around water? Hmm.

"I'm the only one that can talk to him," Grover said. "It makes sense."

It would make sense to kick your furry goat behind into the middle of next week for thinking that you can be trusted on your own at sea, I thought. Then I stopped. Since when was I _nasty_?

I glanced behind me and saw a swirling figure, like a snowstorm. Through it I saw a face so white it looked like snow with coffee-brown eyes. She gave me a smile. I stared at her. _Another _goddess? What was next? _Deity of the bad places you crash into in Manhattan?_

_Greetings, Night Pegasus._

Her voice was so col it made me freeze down to my wing tips. She gave a delighted smile like she enjoyed watching me become rigid. Okay, let me corrext myself for my previous comment: _Amother sadistic _goddess?

_You've come far, _she said, her mini-blizzard slowing so I could see long, dark hair. _And have even farther to go._

_Can you get out of my head? _I snapped.

She laughed, but it sounded distant. _I was seeing something, for the greater cause I am working for. How easy pegasi are to . . . manipulate._

_What is it with you people?!_

_There is nothing _with _me. I am alone. But _I _am _with _another. You know him well._

_Kronos, _I whispered—yes, I shall enlighten you; you can whisper in your head using thoughts.

Her cold grin spread wider. _Why, yes. And I can confirm that you are weak-willed. To manipulate one's thoughts . . . that is a great level of manipulation indeed._

I took a step towards her, my wings already unfurling as I moved away from the kids, the satyr, the cow with the dirty looks, and the Hunter. I was mad at her. She'd been in my head. My head was _my _head. Mine alone. No one could get in there but me. Full stop.

_Not so fast, _she purred. But I didn't stop. She raised a finger, scowling. _You are needed to the cause that you swore to. Come now and avoid pain._

_I thought I'd made it clear that I don't work for you._

_Then suffer pain. This is your chance to undo it all. You fate can still change. _

It was tempting. _So _tempting. I can't tell you how tempting it was, but I could see Opal's face, the pain she would feel if I sided with the Titans. I could see my buds, seemingly washed through with grey. I would have betrayed them.

I couldn't do it.

_No. _

The goddess's smile became a cruel sneer. _Oh, I look forward to the day you follow that monstrosity into my realm. The day your pain becomes more recognised. Oh, how I look forward to that!_

_Listen, lady, no one can change my future but me. I've spent a _long _time getting to that point, so vamoose! _

She gave a cold laugh. _Foolish. Nyx and her foolishness. Very well, then I shall let you in on a secret of the gods. Everything has more than one side, more than one face. Turn a pyramid on its side, and you see a triangle. Turn death west . . . and see riches._

And then she was gone.

I smashed my hoof down on the ground. Number one she was telling me that I would (surprise, surprise) feel immense pain in the future, number 2 she was spitting riddles, and number three I didn't even know who it was that I felt like kicking into next week.

I heard the key words, "I'm not Hercules."

Which I then wanted to comment with, "that's his Roman name," but of course I didn't. How on earth I managed to keep my mouth shut while on these quests and yet unable to shut up at camp I'll never know.

I looked back and saw boss throw the lion skin coat into the bay. As it hit the water, it grew into a real pelt, and then it sunk beneath the surface. A sea breeze picked up.

I wanted to ride that breeze _so _badly. I'd been following these kids for days, and I could at least take this one opportunity to enjoy it, right?

Wrong.

Grover took a deep breath. "Well, no time to lose."

The goat-boy jumped into the water and began to—ever so gracefully—sink. The Ophiotaurus glided up next to him and Grover took hold of the monster's neck. [Yes, Bessie _is _a monster. Why? Well, (a) because Artemis wouldn't hunt it if he wasn't and (b) he shot me dirty looks.]

"Be careful," boss said.

"We will," Grover said. "Okay, um . . . Bessie? We're going to Long Island Sound. It's East. Over that way."

"_Moooo?_" Bessie asked.

"Yes," Grover answered. "Long Island. It's this island. And . . . it's long. Oh, let's just start."

_"Mooo!"_

The Ophiotaurus lurched forward. He started to submerge and Grover said, "I can't breathe underwater! Just thought I'd mention—"_Glub!_

Another day with the gang!

As they went under, I saw boss wince. I grinned. I guess I wasn't really in a laughing mood anymore.

"Well, that's one problem addressed," Zoë said. "But how can we get to my sisters' garden?"

"Thalia's right," boss said. "We need a car. But there's nobody to help us here. Unless we, uh, borrowed one."

_You could always—_ I shut up when Zoë shot me a death look. Then she surprised me. She wrapped a hand around her bow, and ran her fingers along my folded wings. "Well, that's new," I said.

She watched her fingers. "It's been a while since I've spoken to a Pegasus—I mean, before you. Artemis doesn't use pegasi."

I looked as Thalia rummaged through her backpack. "There _is _somebody in San Francisco that can help us. I've got the address somewhere."

"Who?" boss asked.

Thalia pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and held it up. "Professor Chase. Annabeth's dad."

* * *

They walked through the streets and then stopped in front of a house. I slunk back into the shadows under a nearby tree. When the guy came out, he was wearing an aviator's cap and goggles. I couldn't help but give a laugh.

And then, of course, they were invited in, leaving me outside. The good thing about that was I got to think, the bad thing was those were the moments random gods and goddesses chose to come and annoy the heck out of me.

"Waiting for someone?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin. I swung around and saw . . . haven't seen this one before.

She had dark hair and piercing grey eyes. She was wearing a denim jacket. She looked me up and down and then shrugged. "Is there a reason you're standing outside Professor Chase's house?"

I recognised her eyes, and it took me a second to figure it out. "You're Athena."

"Oh brilliant, we have a brain in this one," she muttered sarcastically.

"Hey, I'm not the one that just randomly appeared next to me. That takes the total of goddesses I've seen today to two. I've had my parents insulted, my strength insulted, and now my _brain _insulted? Is it too much to ask to have _one _break?"

"Yes," she snapped. "I'm here to help you find Annabeth."

"Why don't you help then? You're her mother."

That seemed to make Athena _really _ticked off. "You listen to me; you may have been chosen by Nyx, but that does _not _mean you can jeopardise my daughter's life."

"Then you help us!"

"I'm an Olympian, I can't directly interfere!"

We stood for a moment, glaring at each other. Athena stood up straighter. "She's close to death. You have to make sure that she doesn't die."

"Why? Aren't the gods a bit more _flexible _about their children dying?"

Oops. That was bad.

Her hand came out and whacked me over the nose. "Ow!" I yelled, and rubbed it with my wing. She crossed her arms and glared at me. "Tell Khione to shut her mouth!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Khione invaded your mind before. She probably left residue. Clean out your head, horse!"

I mumbled something about gods and their pride. "What do you want me to do? I don't even know what _I'm _meant to do!"

"I don't care how you do it, but make sure she lives."

"Why?"

"Because she has as great a destiny as you. It would've been better if Poseidon's son wasn't part of it, but—"

"I was right with you up to the 'because'."

Athena shot me a death look. "Even to the gods her path isn't as clear as I would like. Still, that boy's is worse. Up to maybe three years from now it's clear, and then . . . it disappears."

"What do you mean, 'disappear'?"

Athena shrugged. "It's just annoying. The goddess of _wisdom _doesn't know something."

"Well, okay. Can we, uh, get back to the main point here?"

Athena looked me dead in the eye. "You can't let her die."

"I can't let anyone die."

"That's not true, Blackjack. You have to let go of one of them. Which one I can't tell you, but . . . the stars are important."

"Here we go again," I muttered. "There's the straightforward stuff, and then there's the stuff that makes no sense."

"Then pay attention to the no-sense stuff!" Athena hissed. "Everyone has a duty. No gift comes without a price."

"Okay . . . ?"

"Listen to what I'm saying!" Athena snapped. "You're blessed, a gift, which means you have a duty, so that you can uphold it. The gods have duties, too. So get with the program!"

I looked at her closer. Was it just me, or . . . ?

"Um, am I losing it, or do you look younger to me that to other people?"

Athena sighed and looked away. "Just because _you're _blessed by a primordial doesn't mean you can say I look like a kid."

Now that I'd seen it, it made sense. She looked in her early twenties, unlike when boss was describing gods to me and he said they looked at least late-twenties. [Yeah, I am _older _than you!]

"Okay, you want me to keep Annabeth and maybe Kelp Head alive, right?"

"Yes."

"What about Zoë?"

"I have no care for that one," Athena said. "Just . . . make sure, when the times comes, you're able to let go of things. From here on, the pain begins. And its peak . . . its peak you _never _saw coming, Blackjack. I'd put all of Olympus on that."

Then she began to glow, and I looked away. There was a loud _pop, _and she was gone.

Then the kids ran down out of the house and jumped into a van. I began to run after them, before jumping into the sky.

* * *

The good news: Zoë _was _able to drive like a maniac. The bad news: the traffic didn't want that.

By the time they were in Marin Country, it was dangerously close to sunset. How did I know? I could feel the night coming closer. Hey, boss says kinda the same thing when he gets close to the sea. [Agreement? No! It's the end of the world!]

They started along a highway with eucalyptus trees along it. The smell was pretty bad. Eucalyptus . . . the stuff those cute Koalas eat? **(A/N: KOALAS ARE NOT BEARS. And Trust me, I live freaking next to Eucalyptus trees. They don't smell ****_that _****bad, do they? Heh, wait until you get to an Australian forest. There's about . . . two types of trees: BIG Eucalyptus trees, and SMALL eucalyptus trees. I mean, they aren't too bad are they? Come to think of it, I quite like the smell. JUST NEVER EAT AN ECALYPTUS-FALVOURED THROAT LOLLY! Sorry, I just had to put that out there. I'm an Aussie.) **

They drove next to the sea, and what I saw made dread and pain gather in my stomach and spread out right to my wing-tips. I'd know that ship anywhere. The _Princess Andromeda. _

Luke was here? Part of me was glad, so that I could kick him over my cliff myself, and the other half wanted to go and crawl into a hole. Even after all I had been through, I was afraid of _that. _People say that being afraid of fear is wise. And it is, but it is also so _stupid. _Sometimes when you're scared you freeze, and that gets you killed. But sometimes your fear is what drives you. To be afraid of that is like a death sentence. But then it can have another side . . . a side that you _should _fear. To this day, I haven't seen anyone control fear like that. And it's so bad I won't describe it here.

And then I smelt something. Ozone. The day was getting darker, except it wasn't night. The WV came to such a sudden halt that it spun twice around. Zoë, Thalia and boss then ran for it. Not a second later a huge, mother of lightning bolts made the van explode in a shower of shrapnel.

The bolt clipped me on the wing.

I really thought I'd had enough of spiralling out of control, passing out, crashing, waking up with a limp wing and stuff like that. This was quite a bit like that, but I can safely say that I didn't crash. Oh, no, I just had to _stay there and enjoy all the freaking pain._

Lightning travels amazingly fast through one's nervous system. As soon as you register the pain, you realise two very important things: pain, and the inability to fight it.

White hot pain went right through me. The lightning made my right wing buckle under, sending me hurtling towards the ground. I couldn't think, I couldn't process anything, I felt like an over-loaded computer; unable to separate anything from anything. The pain was overloading me.

_No, _I thought. Yeah, baby! A thought! I clenched my jaw so hard it hurt for three weeks later, opened out my wing and ground my eyes shut as my ears roared with pain and every heartbeat sent pain racing up and down my spine. _You—will—not—crash. _

Then, just as suddenly as I was going down, I was going up. "Blackjack!"

Was that . . . ? It sounded like Zoë. I felt something warm running down my shoulder. That was new. I haven't had a bleeding wound like that before.

To say my life flashed before my eyes was very simply the understatement of the millennia. I saw Opal's face, her lone forelock covering her right eye; I saw Porks and Guides stumbling over themselves laughing. I saw Honey and Phoenix smiling at me as I took off alone for the first time. I saw Nyx telling me she'd blessed me, I saw Opal on the Doors. I saw Luke's sadistic smile as I lay still with an infected wing. I saw Opal's tear as I said her name, getting back from the ship. I saw boss setting off the toilets. I saw so much, and then I saw . . . something dark, something evil. Tartarus.

I saw a hand gripping a ledge. I saw someone's hair. Hair that looked a lot like boss's. Then I saw the glint of his eye, and realised he looked older. At least sixteen.

And then it all faded to darkness. I pried open an eye. The ground was rushing towards me. My back was wet and warm. I winced, realising it was blood. And then the pain hit me again.

_Make sure you come back, _Opal had said. Would she care if my _other _wing was broken? Hopefully not. I tensed my legs for landing. Of course, when I say landing I mean something more like _hit the ground and then fall over and crash into stuff until you stop._

By the time I wasn't so disorientated that I didn't know what was up, I got hit with some shrapnel. It got my left wing, but I managed to either turn my feathers to daggers or accidently do it while tumbling. Either way, I saved myself from becoming a horse-kebab.

I looked up, even if the world was still spinning, Mount Tam rose in front of me. I got to my feet. My wing had gone numb. Gee, this was going to be fun. The sun was dripping down, it was almost sunset.

I shook my head and tried to focus on something else while I took all my energy to fold the numb wing. I could feel the blood clotting my coat. I grunted and then folded it down. Ouch.

I took a tentative step, before starting to follow them into the Garden of the Hersperides.

* * *

**Dun-dun-dunnnnnnnnnn!**

**Whoohooo! And now I can safelt get back into the groove because all my assessment work has been HANDED IN and I have some free time and OH MY GODS I HAVE FRIDAY OFF! It's report-writing day. Whoohoo.**

**Okay, until the next chapter,**

**Please R&R, (And Nanu Kitty I feel like giving you a cookie because you've given me someone to blab to the last two weeks! (::)!)**

**-Owl**

**Just so you know, the Wait for the House of Hades has finally settled in on me. I'm not in the Aftershock anymore. I'm in THE WAIT! NOOOOO!**

**Okay, see ya later, guys!**


	16. Chapter 16

**I am back! And please prepare for some rapid-fire chapters coming your way. School finishes in a week and I have to return the Titan's curse because I don't own it (*cries*) and then borrow the Battle of Labyrinth. Why can't I borrow that too, you ask? Because I have reached the limit of how many books I can have out at one time, that's why. I have some SERIOUS reading planned. **

**Do you want to see my list?**

**Okay!**

**-The Host by Stephanie Meyer - I don't know why either, I just saw the trailer for the movie and it looks really good**

**-The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare - I don't know why, because loads of people have recommended it to me AND because the movie's coming out?**

**-The Hobbit by T.R.R Tolkien - because my family are ruthless and i HAVE To read it, according to them, and because I'm going to see the movie**

**-The Odyssey by Homer - I'm a PJO fangirl that has it bad. What can I say?**

**-The rest of the Beautiful Creatures series by Kami Garcia and Margret Stohl - because I can . . . and I have an annoying sub-conscious that won't let me stop reading the series until I have read it all . . . mean, mean thing. I probably shouldn't be reading it at my age but ****_meh. _****I say that to everything, even if it is for like . . . seventeen-year-olds . . . and I'm DEFINITELY NOT that old.**

**-The Iliad by Homer (If I can find it)**

**-People of Sparks by Jeanne Du Prau - because I read City of Ember and I have a sub-conscious problem**

**That's about it, off the top of my head. I'd go check my lovely huge pile of books but I'm too lazy and I'm writing this A/N.**

**Review Replies: **

**Nanu Kitty: Yeah, I know what you mean. My parents are like . . . the bane of technology, I tell you**

**Guest:Thank you for looking up our dA! You're welcome for the pictures. I can't stop myself from drawing them, actually . . .**

**Okay, I'm going to sound random, but I just need to share this with you, faithful readers:**

**You know that really awkward/moment where you ask a friend what they think of a picture, and you tell them that you didn't draw it and then they go ahead and use that swear word for poop to describe it? (It could be that she was having a bad day . . .) when you actually ****_did _****draw it? I'm not complaining, just usually people see through me telling them I didn't draw it and say it's great. I guess it is nice to see the truth . . . I guess it gives you a view at the difference between the truth and the nice lies people tell you. I mean, constructive criticism I have no beef at, just . . . plain old swearing to describe it? No thanks. **

**I'm just going to hope she was having a bad day. **

**Yeah, that was one of my pictures on DeviantART. I won't tell you which one, but it's still up. I'm NOT taking it down. I plan on re-posting it with a better coloring-job, though. I must work on my colouring . . .**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and my words**

* * *

**_Chapter 15: Dragon Meets Me_**

The Garden was pretty cool is you excluded the very large dragon in it. But we'll come back to that.

The garden had so many bright colours I was _sure _I'd be colour-blind by the end of this. The grass shimmered silver in the setting sun, and the flowers were so bright that I swore they were glowing. Stepping stones of polished black marble ran through the garden like a path, going around both sides of a five-storey tall apple tree.

_Golden Apples._

And I mean it. Those apples weren't just some bright yellow or something, they were freaking _gold, _they looked to appley to be metal, but to shiny and metallic to be apples. Something told me that was part of the idea.

And I am a _big _critic on apples, but I was sure if I tasted one of those it would remain number one for my whole life. Even if that did make me immortal, because they were very special apples. Fitting for a Night Pegasus? I'd think so. Actually, I really wanted to, but the huge dragon sort of discouraged trying.

"The apples of immortality," Thalia said. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus."

Here comes the dragon. . . .

As boss said, you really can't describe how freaking scary it is. Put me up to ten Areses, because this was worse.

Its body was as thick as a mortal rocket—which is pretty darn big—and all of its heads, at least as thick as me—each one—lay coiled in a huge mound like spaghetti. A huge; coppery; scaly mound of spaghetti with strange hissing noises coming from it.

Then the singing started.

To boss, they were vague voices. To me? Not so much. It was the same sort of song I'd heard at when the boar had come through. The voices sounded distant, as if they were singing from the from the bottom of a well, airy and echoic.

_". . . Set foot upon the stone, dearest Pegasus of the Night,_

_One that calls upon the stars with thy flight,_

_See them rise, see them fall, _

_For you cannot save them all,_

_The sun hesitates at the horizon,_

_Only with the night may it wizen,_

_Rise to the night, lead the stars,_

_Ones respected with thy battle scars . . ."_

Yeah, we're all waiting for it:

Lovely.

Notice the sarcasm? [Yeah, you're getting better!]

In front of us, four figures shimmered into existence, four young women that looked very much like Zoë, but they seemed to be . . . more godly, if you get my gist.

The Hesperides.

"Sisters," Zoë said.

"We do not see any sister," said one of the girls, her white chiton fluttered gently, as if from a breeze when she spoke. Her voice was almost as cold as that goddess I'd seen in the blizzard-thingy. "We see two half-bloods and a Hunter. All of whom shall soon die."

_And the Night Pegasus._

I'd heard that in my head. _In my head—_again. One of the outer Hesperides looked at me. Then I realised she'd called me _the _Night Pegasus. They didn't plan on killing me, or making me die. Quite frankly, I didn't care. Sure, I cared that there was a _huge freaking dragon _right there that could bite me in half in one go, but I knew where my loyalties were. If I died at that dragon, I was cool with that—apart from the _dying _bit, of course—but if I died from backstabbing or something? No. I couldn't do that.

And I would _not _betray them now.

_For you cannot save them all._

"You've got it wrong," boss said. For once I wasn't calling him stupid. "Nobody is going to die."

The Hesperides studied him closely. "Perseus Jackson," one of them said—the one that had said thing in my head.

[I'm never gonna let you get over your full name—_Perseus. _Ha-ha— OUCH!]

"Yes," another mused. "I do not see why he is a threat."

"Who said I was a threat?"

_Every freaking person that's— _actually, we won't go there.

The first Hesperid glanced behind her, at the top of the mountain. "They fear thee. They are unhappy that _this _one has not yet killed thee."

She pointed at Thalia. Well, there are times _I'd _gladly have done it—annoying little kid—but I never would have. I hope not, anyway.

"Tempting sometimes," Thalia admitted. "But no thanks. He's my friend."

"There are no friends here, Daughter of Zeus," the nymph said. "Only enemies. Go back."

"Not without Annabeth," Thalia said.

"And Artemis," Zoë said. "We must approach the mountain."

"You know he will kill thee," the outer girl said. "You are no match for him."

"Artemis must be freed," Zoë insisted. "Let us pass."

The first Hesperid shook her head. "You have no rights here anymore. We only have to raise our voices and Ladon will wake."

"He will not hurt me," Zoë said, deadly calm.

"No? And what about thy so-called friends?"

She did have a point, you know. But I knew Zoë would never give in. If she made a mistake, she made sure _she _suffered the consequences. Which is why she did what she did right then.

"Ladon! Wake!" she shouted.

The dragon stirred, glittering like a mountain of pennies. The Hesperides yelped and scattered. The lead girl said to Zoë, "Are you mad?"

"You never had any courage, sister," Zoë said bitterly. "That is thy problem."

Ladon was watching us now, a thousand heads whipping around, tongues flickering and tasting the air. Zoë took a step forward, her arms raised.

"Zoë, don't," Thalia said. "You're not a Hesperid anymore. He'll kill you."

"Ladon is trained to protect the tree," Zoë said. "Skirt around the edges of the garden. Go up the mountain. As long as I am the bigger threat, she should ignore thee."

"_Should,_" I said. "Not exactly reassuring."

"It is the only way," she said. "Even the three of us together cannot fight him."

Ladon opened his mouths. The sound of a hundred heads hissing made me close of. It was _horrible, _in other words. And then there was the smell. And let me get this straight: I am _not—_I repeat, _not_—going to tell you how bad it was because _it was that bad._

Thalia spend left, boss ran right, and Zoë went right on. I walked up behind her. "If it were me, I'd say this was a death wish."

She nodded.

"So . . . would you like to go there riding a Night Pegasus?"

I'd never asked anyone to ride me—except that stunt with Silena, but I was bored, okay?—but I knew that if Zoë went in alone, she'd get killed in a split second. She smiled up at me. "Appropriate. You're as black as a mortal's hearse."

She swung onto my back, and we walked towards the monster.

* * *

It's strange how in moments like these that you can really appreciate just how much of an idiot you are.

"It's me, my little dragon," Zoë said from my back. I hadn't completely figured out the layers of the Mist yet, but I was pretty sure things older than the gods are shielded from the eyes of demigods. So a Pegasus blessed by a primordial and the daughter of a Titan—well, Zoë wanted to be seen, out of free will. Let me say here and now that free will is a _very _important thing. Me? I wasn't ready to be seen yet. Sue me. [Not literally! Geez.]

"Zoë has come back," she finished. Ladon shifted forward, and then back. Some mouths closed, some kept hissing, and other went completely bonkers. Yeah, he was confused. The eldest Hesperid muttered, "Fool."

I still don't know who she was referring to—me and Zoë were on our own level of insane.

"I used to feed thee by hand," Zoë said, speaking in a soothing voice that I'd never heard coming from her before. I took a step forward. "Do you still like lamb's meat?"

Not a pleasant image, but anyway—the dragon's eyes glinted. Either he was remembering that she used to be there, or that she was an outcast, and that he should bite her in half—which meant me too.

I could see Thalia and boss from the corners of my eyes; they were nearly halfway around the garden. I took another step, and the dragon zeroed in on me. I wasn't a Hesperid, and that seemed to trigger the memory that Zoë wasn't either.

He lunged at us. "Go!" I yelled at her, and even if she hated me for it, I threw her off and kept the few heads at us at bay with my—awesome kick-butt—wings. I guess you could say I'd gotten over the initial shock and was enjoying the perks about now.

Zoë had been in the Hunt for over two millennia, and you could tell. She was light on her feet, she could run fast, and she knew how to get out of a storm of serpent heads with massive fangs and breath that made my eyes water.

I watched Zoë run towards boss as he uncapped his sword. [No offence, but that was the _worst idea ever._]

"No!" Zoë panted. "Run!"

Then one of Ladon's heads snapped at her side, I heard her cry out. I shot a volley of daggers at the heat, slicing it over the nose. It hissed and retreated.

Then I ran.

Sure, I may have had a numb wing, but it's amazing how much adrenaline can do when you're in situations of your impending death.

Thalia uncovered her shield and the dragon hissed in pain. In that moment of indecision, they all turned and sprinted up the mountain. The dragon gave me a deluxe stink-eye but remained at the tree.

I followed the kids up the hill as the Hesperides their song again—just this one was different.

_"New stars will rise,_

_Your friend's demise, _

_Break life's thin tether,_

_No friends can stay together."_

Brilliant.

* * *

The top of the mountain was basically ruins. Blocks of black granite and marble at least as big as pegasi stalls littered the area. Fallen pillars. Bronze statues—like mini Hanks and Chucks, just without the winds—that looked like they'd been half-melted.

"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia whispered.

I touched down behind them. Zoë was lagging behind, her hand pressed to her side. "Are you—?"

"Shhh," Zoë hissed. Her eyes were pained. No, she wasn't okay.

"Yes," she said, turning back to boss and Thalia. "It was not here before. This is bad."

"What's Mount Othrys?" boss asked. Oh, if Annabeth were there . . . [Yeah, she'd have kicked your butt with knowledge—that's like, the worst way _you _can die. Ouch!]

"The mountain fortress of the Titans," Zoë said. "In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was—" she winced and pressed her side.

"You're hurt," boss said. "Let me see."

"No! It is nothing. I was saying . . . in the first war, Othrys was blasted to pieces."

"But . . . how is it here?"

Thalia looked around cautiously as they picked their way through. Me? I didn't dare set foot there. If the ruins of a defeated city are forming on the top of a mountain—that's not something to be taken lightly. Especially of you carry the blessing of a primordial that most titans and gods hate.

They walked through the rubble, the shattered marble and tossed archways. "It moves the same way as Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. But the fact that it is here, on _this _mountain, is not good."

"Why?" boss asked, ignorant as usual.

"This is Atlas's mountain," Zoë said. "Where he holds—" her voice was ragged and uneven. She was breaking down, from pain and despair. "Where he used to hold up the sky."

They'd reached the summit. I was still at the bottom. I could see their silhouettes, and I could hear them from the gathering darkness. The first stars were appearing in the sky.

The clouds above the mountain swirled in a heavy vortex, giving the illusion that they were solid. But instead of seeing a huge, beefy guy that screamed _I'm a Titan! _It rested on the shoulders of a twelve-year-old girl in a silvery dress with auburn hair.

That was my cue to get my butt up there. If an Olympian was there, I wouldn't matter.

"My lady!" Zoë rushed forward as I galloped up the rubble-littered summit. Artemis looked up and yelled, "Stop!" she was drenched in sweat, and her voice was strained. I'd never seen a goddess in pain before. "This is a trap. You must leave now."

Zoë was crying. She ran forward despite what Artemis had said, and yanked at the chains that bound her there. A booming voice sounded from behind me, making me jump out of my skin, "Ah, how touching."

I swung around. I knew who it was. He was wearing a brown silk suit—probably Italian—and at his side was Luke-the-Sadistic and half a dozen _dracaenae _carrying some strange golden coffin. But I knew what was in there. Kronos.

Annabeth stood next to Luke, her hands bound behind her back, a gag in her mouth and Luke had the point of his sword at her throat.

_At her throat._

_Backbiter._

_Imperial Gold._

We were _so _close to Camp Jupiter. I remembered everything from my brief visit there, I remembered my time on the _Princess Andromeda, _and I remembered that sword. I remembered the hum it gave off, like its parts shouldn't be fused together but were.

For a split second the pain of those memories washed through me, and then all I could feel was anger. They were going to do that to everyone. Knowing I was the one thing that had endured it was bad enough, but when there was the whole world out there . . .

To say I was angry was an understatement. To say I was in _rage _was an understatement. I was beyond that. I didn't even _know _what I was. Just something far, far worse than something Ares could cook up.

"Luke," Thalia snarled. "Let her go."

Luke's usually sadistic smile was weak and pale. "That is the General's decision, Thalia. But it's good to see you again."

He glanced at me as if to say, _not so much you._

Thalia spat at him.

Go Thalia! [She has her moments, okay? _Fine, _you do too.]

The General chuckled. "So much for old friends. And you, Zoë. It's been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you."

"Do not respond," Artemis groaned. "Do not challenge him."

"Wait a second," boss said.

Well, _there goes that!_

"You're Atlas?"

The General turned his gaze on boss. "So, even the stupidest heroes can finally figure something out. Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl."

_Oh no you don't, _I thought so angrily I was sure boss heard.

"You're not going to hurt Zoë," boss said. "I won't let you."

The General sneered. "You have no right to interfere, little hero. This is a family matter."

Boss frowned. "Family matter?"

Now it was going to be out in the open. Zoë's biggest shame. I glanced at her. She set you jaw and looked at Atlas with steely dark eyes. "Yes," she said bleakly. "Atlas is my father."

* * *

**There! I have it done! We're nearly through the Titan's Curse! Fun fact: while typing this I'm wearing a Santa hat. Hehe. **

**Okay, so, until the next chapter,**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**


	17. Chapter 17

**Yeah! I'm BACK! Sorry I've been a while, but I'm back now, so YAY! Right, there's only about two more chapters of the Titan's Curse, so I can nut them out tonight, and then return the book tomorrow and GET THE NEXT ONE!**

**Hopefully I can finish the Trilogy before school starts for next year, so I have enough time to write the HoO ones. I am going to enjoy that! Yes, there shall be a TBT for the Heroes of Olympus! And plans for the last one of this will come into play . . . *evil laugh***

**Review Replies: **

**Nanu Kitty: Thanks! YAY! Can't wait until the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and words**

* * *

**_Chapter 16: Bitter Disappointments_**

Of course, when boss told _his _side of the story, he said that he held the weight of the sky alone, yes? Well, yeah, that's the truth, but I aided him in getting Atlas back under it, which is why, if he was ever free again, he'd come after me and it wouldn't be pretty at all. Got that?

But anyway—back to the story.

If I hadn't already known who Zoë Nightshade was, my knees would've buckled in shock. Boss looked ready to, but I have to give him credit, because he stayed both conscious _and _standing. He looked back and forth between them, seeing the resemblance for the first time.

I looked at the General with narrowed eyes. Zoë both hated and him and was still ashamed of what she did. Did she still love him as a father?

I wouldn't know. Mine _died. _

"Let Artemis go," Zoë demanded. She was still Zoë, even if she _was _the daughter of the General.

Atlas strolled calmly towards the goddess. "Perhaps you'd like to take the sky for her, then? Be my guest."

Zoë opened her mouth to speak, she would've done it; I know she would've. "No! Do not offer, Zoë! I forbid you."

Atlas smirked. He knelt down next to Artemis and attempted to touch her face. I took a step towards them, but Artemis could look after herself even under the weight of the sky. She snapped at the Titan's fingers, almost biting them off.

"Hoo-hoo," Atlas chuckled. I clenched my jaw. He was seriously thick. "You see, daughter? Lady Artemis likes her new job. I think I will have all the Olympians carrying my burden, once Lord Kronos rules again, and this is the centre of our palace. It will teach those weaklings some humanity."

_Weaklings. _Did he realise that one of the only pegasi blessed by some of the only things _older _than the Titans was listening to this? Actually, he probably did, and felt like rubbing it in my face that he didn't _care. _

Just like everyone else.

Thalia muttered something, and I could've heard it, but I didn't, because I wasn't paying attention.

_Where the sun hesitates._

_Everything leaves a mark._

_Printed against the sky . . ._

There she was. Opal. Where the huge bright disk of the setting sun sunk beneath the horizon, I could see her silhouette. I'd know her wings anywhere. They weren't quite like most wings—more angular, with sharper primaries. She was hovering there, golden wings glittering with each stroke.

Was she looking at me? I squinted at her, but she wasn't. She was facing forwards, but she was looking back, as if deciding whether to follow the sun down, to escape the incoming night.

Nothing anyone could've ever said would have prepared me for that.

Many people are like, _it broke my heart, _or something, but no, that is freaking _not _what it feels like, okay? It's like this deep, sinking feeling in the pit of your gut, one that goes up to your throat and forms a lump, where it makes it hard to swallow and you get tears in your eyes. It's the feeling that you get when you wake up one morning remembering something bad that practically ruins the next five years of your life, when you just want to give in and die in a hole.

She was deciding whether to run from the night. Whether she should follow the sun, and leave behind the night, or whether she should stay.

I was praying that she would stay, but my head was telling me that she would go. Everything that everyone had ever said to me about a sun—it was always about her. _She _was the sun. And I was the night. I was the darkness that the sun fled.

_She will cause you great pain._

_This is where it starts._

And they were right. Because Opal turned and followed the sun.

* * *

"I don't understand," boss said, jolting me from my own universe. "Why can't Artemis just let go of the sky?"

Atlas laughed. "Oh, how little you understand, young one. This is the point where the sky and the earth first met, where Ouranos and Gaia first brought their mighty children, the Titans. The sky yearns to embrace earth. Someone must hold it at bay, or else it would crush down upon this place, instantly flattening this mountain and everything within a thousand leagues. Once you have taken the burden, there is no escape." Atlas smiled. "Unless someone takes it from you."

He took a step towards them, but his eyes were fixed on me. He was a great actor, but I know when someone was looking right at me. "So these are the best heroes of the age, eh?" he said it to _me. _He was telling me to abandon them. I narrowed my eyes. "Not much of a challenge."

"Fight us," boss said, too icily for normal. Must have had his pride wounded. "And let's see."

"Have the gods taught you nothing? An immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly. It is beneath our dignity. I will have Luke crush you instead."

"So you're another coward," boss said. Maybe it was the fact that it felt like I'd been split in two, but I was ready to take on Atlas with boss. Atlas glared at him, his eyes flaring with hatred, and then turned to Thalia.

"As for you, Daughter of Zeus, it seems Luke was wrong about you."

"I wasn't wrong," Luke managed tightly. He looked like he was in pain. Maybe the sadistic was getting a taste of his own medicine, I thought bitterly.

"Thalia, you can join us. Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!"

He waved his hand, and next to us a pool of water appeared. It took all my willpower not to destroy it right there. I planted my hooves in the ground and looked down. I closed my eyes for a second. Opal had left to follow the sun. Fine. I took a shuddering breath. She hadn't known I was here.

Atlas planned on killing the kids. Meh, at least I could take my anger out on someone. Luke was trying to get Thalia to call Bessie and boss was picking fights with Immortals. Not to mention Thalia was trying to figure out how Luke had become Sir Luke the Sadistic—oh, and there was Artemis under the sky as well.

I kept my face angled down and looked up at Atlas. He was looking smug—too smug for my opinion. Let the fight start! I thought angrily. I need to get this stuff out!

"Thalia, call the Ophiotaurus," Luke persisted. "And you will be more powerful than the gods."

"Luke . . ." Thalia said, her voice thick with pain. "What happened to you?"

"Don't you remember all those times we talked? All the times we cursed the gods. Our fathers have done nothing for us. They have no right to rule the world!"

And you think Titans are better? I thought miserably. Suddenly my anger was smudged away. Luke was telling her what had _really _driven him, why he made the idiotic mistake, but when he talked to me it was because he was busy enjoying the perks.

_Nothing comes without a price._

Really? I never guessed. It took me a second to realise that that thought wasn't mine. It was a different voice. Almost . . . oh. Nyx.

She didn't say anything else.

Thalia shook her head. "Free Annabeth. Let her go."

"If you join me," Luke promised, almost desperately, "it can be like old times. The three of us together. Fighting for a better world. Please, Thalia, if you don't agree . . ."

He sounded scared now. How could he happily torture me and yet be scared over _this_?

I guess I wasn't as over it as I thought.

"Do not, Thalia," Zoë warned. "We must fight them."

Luke waved his hand again, and a bronze brazier appeared with a huge flame. A sacrificial flame.

"Thalia," boss said. "No."

Around us, the ruins were becoming less like ruins. Marbles blocks straightened themselves, pillars began to rise again.

"We will raise Mount Othrys right here," Luke promised again. "Once more, it will be stronger and greater than Olympus. Look, Thalia, we are not weak."

His voice was so strained I could barely believe it was his.

He pointed towards the harbor, and my heart rose and fell at the same time. Marching up the mountain was a great army of monsters. I was excited, and my anger ignited all over again, but I was afraid because not even an angry Night Pegasus could take out that many.

_One is one but many parts of one is less._

I didn't get that but okay.

"This is only a taste of what is to come," Luke said. "Soon, we will be ready to storm Camp Half-Blood. And after that, Olympus itself. All we need is your help."

For a horrible moment, Thalia hesitated. It was tempting. I could see it on her face just how tempting it was. But then her jaw set. She levelled her spear and pointed it at him. "You aren't Luke. I don't know you anymore."

All I could think of was that I never did.

_Ignorance is both one's strength and one's weakness._

"Yes, you do, Thalia," Luke pleaded. "Please, don't make me . . . don't make _him _destroy you."

Boss looked around at the demigods on the mountaintop—the good ones that I knew as friends and would gladly die with. Even ones that had followed the sun.

My anger roared through me. Showtime.

"Now," said boss.

We charged.

* * *

I went straight for the front line. I opened out my wings like a mortal plane and galloped towards them. I guess I was acting on instinct, because them I skidded to a stop, spun once, and then swung my wing as I came around, shooting maybe twenty daggers.

As they recovered and began to shoot at me I took to the sky. I guess it was time to try out just what a Night Pegasus was.

_Within the Dark there is Light, and within the Light there is Dark._

_Within the Light there is Dark._

Dark. I concentrated on the darkness. I could feel everything growing darker. I tucked in my wings and dive-bombed the monsters.

The sudden darkness was good enough for me to come to a land and kick a few of them away. A hellhound came at me, and I galloped, splitting the ranks and cleaving through them with dagger-enforced wings. As the hellhound came closer, I prayed my luck would hold and opened my wings out wide and then stretched them back as far as I could.

People can survive a bed of nails. I don't think that hellhounds can survive beds of daggers.

The blast of its form crumbling sent me shooting forward. I shot up. The sun had almost set, there was only a thin sliver of light left.

I shot down to Zoë. She was injured, I knew that. She seemed to have trouble getting a dagger from her quiver. I kicked the _dracaenae _aside and held out a wing. "Here," I said, panting. My feathers turned to daggers. "Take one. If you're gonna die, I want to know that I tried to help you."

She yanked out one from my secondaries. It was as long as her forearm, if that's any indication that I have massive wings.

She took it and turned back, and I saw what she was looking at. Boss. He was going to take on . . . _Atlas? _Was he _insane?_

Actually, stupid question. [OW!]

"Go on, then," he beckoned, now wearing full Greek armour and holding a huge javelin.

"Percy!" Zoë yelled. "Beware!"

I decided to turn away before he charged. But, of course, that never seemed to work. I dive-bombed the army again, and then swung back to Atlas, just in time to see him swing his javelin at boss and send him flying up to Artemis. My wing snapped out before he could swing it again, and caught it.

"This is not your place, Night Pegasus."

I pressed harder. My wing was trembling from the weight. "It's never my place—or is it? My place is the night. And unless I'm imagining it, it's nightfall."

Atlas narrowed his eyes. "That's not all though, is it?"

"No. I'm a Paired Pegasus," the name had finally come to me. A Pegasus with their fate entwined with a hero. A Paired Pegasus. "And I'm guessing you know the way things go. I can't let you kill the hero."

Atlas pushed my wing away. "A fool of a horse to die with the fool of a hero."

I swung my wing, shooting daggers. For a split second, he was surprised. One dagger hit his chest plate but then shattered, the others he blocked. _Boss! _I yelled, hoping I'd get through. _Get up!_

In that moment, Atlas swung his javelin and sent me shooting into the pool. If I hadn't been running on pure adrenaline, it would've made me black out. But I sat there, paralysed in pain. I counted to ten, and I watched Atlas advance on boss and raise his javelin. "Die, little hero," Atlas said coldly.

"No!" Zoë yelled, and shot a volley of silver arrows at Atlas, which hit him in the armpit in the chink of his armour. "ARGH!" he bellowed, and turned to Zoë.

Then darkness. But not darkness that meant I was blacking out. _The night._

New strength surged through me, and I got up. The darkness was a welcoming change. I charged towards Atlas and Zoë. Time to repay a debt.

Zoë wound had gotten worse, Atlas swung his javelin, and the pain was getting too much for Zoë. She was too late to catch the blow with any weapon. But I jumped in. I raised one wing in like a shield and caught the javelin as it swung, before doing something I knew Atlas would never be able to block.

I turned towards him head on, and raised my wings in front of my face, and crossed them over, coiling the muscles. Then I opened them out, shooting daggers at him from both sides. He tried to block, but most caught him. These ones didn't shatter. They sent him stumbling backwards. I turned and kicked him back again, then swiped the javelin from his hand. He fell to his knees.

"Beaten by a Pegasus," I said, panting from the fight.

"Not a Pegasus," Atlas spat. "A horse."

I lifted a leg and kicked him in the chin. He fell back. "I'm not usually that violent," I said, so angry it was the heat of that anger keeping me from getting tired or even to keep panting. "But I am _not _a horse."

Then guess what? Pain. It was a different pain than what I was used to. It was in the back of my head, but it was so bad I couldn't describe it. Atlas glanced towards where the sky was being held and smiled cruelly. He shoved me over and picked up his javelin again. I saw a silvery flash—Artemis.

Then I realised: _the Titan's curse must one withstand._

Boss was holding the sky. I was feeling his pain.

With difficulty, I blocked it off. That pain wasn't mine. I couldn't help him now that he had taken the sky. I looked towards him and saw him sinking down. He was breaking. _Fight back! _I thought at him, opening the channel that made me feel the pain. But I didn't flinch. _Don't give up. _

Then I closed off again and galloped back to the army. Someone had to hold it off, or all Hades would break loose.

_What you see and what you are can be two completely different things. _

I ignored it and kicked away an advancing hellhound. But Nyx wouldn't be quiet.

_Help can come from anywhere._

I ground my teeth and duelled with a _dracaenae _as she swung her spear. I shot some daggers and she crumped to dust.

_Of the Dark or of the Light. The Light is trapped, the Dark is loose._

_Shut up—please! _I thought back. _I'm trying to survive some monsters here! Maybe a little help? _A Laestrygonian giant cuffed my shoulder, but barely had enough time to grin because he was suddenly blasted back but some sort of black force. I grinned. Nice.

_Within the night anything can hide._

_Are you bragging now? _I ducked under a half-blood's sword and shoved him back. "What the heck are you doing with these guys?" I yelled. He probably thought I was neighing like I was some sort of rabid feathery horse. The kid was dressed in grey under his armour, and his clothes had runes on them. He raised a hand and shouted something I couldn't hear, and a glowing green thing like a force-field shot towards me. I tried the trick I'd done before, and a wall of darkness rose and stopped it. The boy gaped in horror and I shoved it. He stumbled away.

A pair of claws came at my wing, probably in an attempt to rip them off. Something a harp would do.

_Creatures of the sky don't bow so low to kill their own._

I groaned and reared up at the harpy, pressing my wings in tight. She swerved away, but then banked back, her claws extended. My hooves came down on them, causing her to flip head-over-talons. I looked back at the fight between Atlas and Artemis.

Artemis was a match for the Titan, boss was . . . under the sky, Thalia was fighting Luke so madly even I was jealous, and Zoë . . .

Zoë was flung back into a pile of black rocks, landing on her wounded side. "No!" I screamed. _Don't die, don't die, don't die, _I thought. Zoë didn't move as I galloped towards her. Her eyes were sad. "I'm sorry, Blackjack," she said, her voice full of pain.

I couldn't move. Here was one of my best friends dying. I looked back at Atlas, shaking with rage. I should have wounded him when I had the chance.

I glanced at Artemis, and I knew what was coming. I galloped towards them/

"First blood of a new war," Atlas gloated. He stabbed downward.

But Artemis was Artemis. She grabbed the shaft of the javelin. It hit the ground right next to her. She used the javelin like a lever, swinging on it and kicking the Titan in the chest. At the same moment, I kicked him with her—harder than I ever had. If Artemis had kicked him alone, her strength would not have been enough. But I was repaying a debt.

I thought of Bianca, I thought of Zoë. I thought of Opal flying after the sun. If I had had the choice, I would have too. Atlas went flying backwards, pushing boss from beneath the sky. _"NOOOOOO!" _Atlas bellowed. _"NOT AGAIN!" _

He was so loud he shook the mountain. Boss struggled to get up and fell back down. I grabbed the collar of his t-shirt in my teeth and dragged him away from the cursing Titan. He may be trapped, but he had more than one trick up his sleeve.

Boss was so hot from exhaustion that it made my muzzle begin to burn up. The back of his neck was drenched in sweat. He stank. [You so did! Get de-odorant, seriously! How are you meant to take it on a quest? _In a bag._]

Luke was wounded and tiring, and Thalia had tears in her eyes. He lunged at Thalia but she shoved him away with her shield. His sword clattered to the rocks. Her spear tip shot to his throat.

For a moment, there was nothing.

I let go of boss and let him come out of his daze.

"Well?" Luke asked her. He tried to hide it, maybe with pride or anger, but there was fear in his voice. Thalia trembled with fury. Behind her, Annabeth rushed forward, finally out of her bonds. I knew that boss had spent the whole time looking for her, and it was a shock to hear what she said. "Don't kill him!"

"He's a traitor," Thalia said. "A traitor!"

_More than a traitor, _I thought bitterly. My adrenaline was running low, and my wings were aching from all the daggers I'd shot. My chest was tight with exhaustion, and my anger was all but gone, and I was stuck with that feeling of hopelessness again.

"We'll bring Luke back," Annabeth pleaded. "To Olympus. He . . . he'll be useful."

_Usefully dead._

"Is that what you what, Thalia?" Luke sneered. "To go back to Olympus in triumph? To please your dad?"

Thalia hesitated, and in that second Luke made a grab for her spear. Thalia kicked him away reflexively, and he stumbled back, terror on his face. He slipped over the edge.

"Luke!" Annabeth screamed. Boss rushed to the edge. I galloped to Zoë. The army was still there, out and ready to go for the kill. That was certain. But Zoë . . . Zoë was dying.

I dropped to my knees at Zoë. Artemis didn't care I was there. Zoë looked across to me with her dark eyes. "I owe you, Night Pegasus."

"No," I said. "No, you don't. I owed you that."

She gave a small smile. "Perhaps thy is even now."

"Artemis!" boss yelled. Artemis looked back at him.

_Grief is too big for this world and too small for the universe. _

"The wound is poisoned," Artemis said.

"Atlas poisoned her?" boss asked.

"No," the goddess said. "Not Atlas."

She moved aside so we could all see Zoë's wound. If I hadn't seen so many, I wouldn't have been able to look at it. But I could, and that made it all worse. I had let Ladon do this to her.

"No," Zoë said so sofly even I, with my enhanced night-hearing could barely hear her. "It is not thy fault."

Zoë looked up at the sky. "The stars," she murmured. "I cannot see them."

"Nectar and Ambrosia," boss said desperately. "Come on! We have to get her some!"

Nobody moved. I felt my eyes warm with tears. Maybe Zoë was hard to get, who may hate you at times, who may shoot you from the sky other times, but she was one of my best friends. I couldn't stand to lose her.

It was the Titans' faults.

Then there was a strange buzzing sound, and a mortal plane—one so old it had to be an antique plane or something—swooped down and began to fire at the monsters.

They must've been mixed with Celestial Bronze, because they were killing the monsters pretty well. That shook Artemis from her grief. She lifted her hunting horn and blew a long, clear note.

_Angel tears become a dream._

I couldn't hear what was going on; it was like grief had put me on another layer of the Mist. I could only see Zoë painful face.

Boss said something, but I couldn't hear it. A silvery light blazed behind me. Artemis locked eyes with me. _Meet us at Crissy Field. Tell your friends to come. _

She stood up and they all began to climb onto her chariot. Nightfall hadn't happened yet after all. Maybe in five minutes or so. I stood up, still wracked with grief. I shuddered from my muzzle to my hooves; then opened out my wings. I didn't care about the monsters. They were somewhere else; somewhere I didn't exist. I existed on my own planet of grief. Grief was too big for the earth, but to small that it could never leave us.

_Once is once—_

_And twice is too many, _I finished. I knew that one. I knew all the lines she'd told me. They were things I'd heard Zoë saying to herself. Nyx was telling me things that Zoë told herself. Suddenly that didn't seem right.

_Nothing is right, Night Pegasus, _Nyx said clearly in my head. _But there is so much wrong. _

I looked towards Atlas, glaring at me so furiously I should've fallen over. But I didn't. I glared right back at him. _That's not right, _I thought and turned away, cantering to take to the sky. _He deserves worse._

_They say less is more._

_No, _I told her. _Less is more for them. That doesn't apply to us. We get everything, good and bad._

The air filled my wings and I took off into the night. Nyx was silent for a while.

_Athena was right. Everything has a duty. _

And I knew what it was; the last line of the prophecy:

_And then he shall stay, to the stars he must see. _

But Nyx said one more thing: _falling's not the problem, when we're falling, we're at peace. It's only when we hit the ground it causes all the grief._

Tell me about it.

* * *

**Ta-da! Whoohoo! We're done and ****_dusted! _****Okay, I've written a one-shot about Opal from Opal's POV, and I shall post it soon! Okay, until then, we have to finish the trademark A/N:**

**Until the next chapter,**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**


	18. Chapter 18

**Yeah! We're almost finished! WHOOHOO! Now all I have to do is bang this out over the weekend, write some of TTMD (to make Cat happy) and then we can move on! I'm looking forward to that. Cat, I know what I'm going to get you for Christmas. No, it's not a Cat. It just may be a book . . .**

**A very ****_special _****book.**

**Speaking of which, I have a confession to make:**

**_IreadtheMoAforatwenty-sixthtimeI'msorryIcouldn'thelpit!_**

**There. That's better.**

**Review Replies:**

**Child of Kronos: Thanks! It's not every day you get a message like that! Do you live in Singapore? I used to live there!**

**Nanu Kitty (TJ/Epic Author of TWB): I am updating! It's okay - the best thing to do when you have to update is calmly work. Waking up early and having a tea or something helps.**

**I HAVE MADE IT THROUGH THE LAST FULL WEEK OF SCHOOL! YES!**

**I own only my OCs and my words**

* * *

**_Chapter 17: The Buds Are Back_**

It's strange how little the world seems in grief. _Guido, Porks, _I called. _We got a job. The kids need us at Crissy field._

_Yo, Jackie! _Porkpie called. _Where you been, and why do you sound so depressed?_

_Yeah, I second that, _Guido said.

_Apart from the fact that one of my best friends is dying? That's about it._

They didn't say anything.

I touched down on the grass of the field and saw Artemis first of all. Zoë was almost gone when I got there. She was holding boss's pen-sword in her shaking hand and was talking to him. "You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson. You are nothing like . . . like Hercules. I am honoured that you carry this sword."

I watched them silently. "Zoë—" boss began.

"Stars," Zoë whispered. "I can see the stars again, my lady."

Her gaze drifted to me. _I must ask a final favour of thee, Night Pegasus, _she gave a peaceful smile._ Blackjack._

"Stars," Zoë whispered. Her eyes looked up. I blinked away tears, but they were running down my face anyway. I took to the sky silently. Her eyes looked at me as I sailed up in the sky above her. "I can see the stars again, my lady."

"Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight."

Thalia looked down, and I closed my eyes. _Take me to the stars, Blackjack, _Zoë said in my head. I nodded. _I will._

"Stars," Zoë said again. Her eyes fixed on the sky above, and then she said nothing more. Artemis stood, and a silent understanding went through us. I was a Night Pegasus. I was in charge of the Night my mistress brought forward. That was my duty.

A silvery wisp of smoke rose up next to me, and suddenly I felt something in the primaries of my feathers. I looked down and saw glowing orbs of silver there. I was carrying the stars into the sky. I smiled. I was doing what Zoë had asked.

The scars on my wings that I had seen so many times were glowing—the same way they had when Ares had broken my wing the first time. What a different Pegasus I was. But I was who I was now, and they were glowing.

I breathed in, and soared up. I flew faster than I ever had before. I neared the cloud bank, and shot through. I flew higher than I ever had. Higher, higher, higher. I was getting away from the ground where grief lived. I was flying up to the stars with stars in my feathers.

Then _BOOM! _I was falling for a moment. The stars were blazing in the sky, and I let myself fall. Falling was never the problem. Nyx had told me. I free-fell down, looking up at the constellation I had placed in the sky. It looked like a girl holding a bow. Zoë.

Wing whistled by me. I angled my wings and was flying correctly again. I cleared my head. The weight of the grief seemed to have lifted along with the stars. I felt lighter. Zoë had been at peace as she died. She had been happy. She was glad to finally die.

_Yo, buds—where are you?_

_How's—_

_Don't ask, _I cut them off. _But hey, I'm alive, you're alive, and quite frankly, that's an advancement._

_No broken wings this time? _Guido asked skeptically.

_Nope. No broken wings, legs, bones, spirits, minds—all good!_

_What about Zoë?_

I didn't answer for a while. _Zoë's gone. I think she would have wanted us to move on. So—you guys ready for this?_

_WHAT?!_

I dive-bombed them from above. We went sailing in all directions. "Blackjack, you are dead!"

I laughed and zoomed onwards. Porkpie and Guido close on my tail. We pulled to a stop at the airfield. "You just wait," Porkpie muttered. I couldn't help but give a wicked grin. "Okay."

"Blackjack!" boss called. It was strange for him to be talking to me when I'd been here all week trying to hide from him.

"Yo, boss!" I yelled back. "You manage to stay alive okay without me?" I was being a smart aleck, but the beauty of that was that _he didn't know _I was being one! [OUCH!]

"It was rough," he admitted. Guido gave me a shove. I shoved him back. "I brought Guido and Porkpie with me."

"How ya doin?" They said. I looked over boss closer than I could have while on the quest. He looked _really _beat. I looked at Thalia, Annabeth, and then . . . um . . .

"Any of these goons you want us to stampede?" I asked, looking at the guy.

"Nah," he said. I looked he guy over, and then saw the resemblance he had to Annabeth. _Oh. _He was the guy in the plane. "These are my friends. We need to get to Olympus pretty fast."

"No problem," I said. "Except for the mortal over there. Hope he's not going."

Boss confirmed he wasn't. The guy was staring at me with an open mouth. I shot him a quick glare. No need to gape.

"Fascinating," the guy said. "Such manoeuvrability! How does the wingspan compensate for the weight of the horse's body, I wonder."

"Whaaaat?" I asked. I had _no _idea what the heck this guy was talking about.

"Why, if the British had had these pegasi in the cavalry charges in the Crimea," the man said, "the charge of the Light Brigade—"

I was on edge now. The last thing I needed to be reminded of was that the war with the Titans had only just begun. I narrowed my eyes at him. He was _not _suggesting that I fight for _mortals. _Mortals that saw me as a mode of transport _only. _In other words, it was a good thing Annabeth interrupted him when she did.

"Dad!" Annabeth said.

He blinked. He looked at her and managed a smile. "I'm sorry, my dear. I know you must go."

He gave her a hug. My chest tightened. Memories of Zoë and Opal came to mind. I shoved them away. No, I wouldn't think about that now. She was about to vault onto Guido when the guy called, "Annabeth. I know . . . I know San Francisco is a dangerous place for you. But please remember you always have a home with us. We'll keep you safe."

[Now, I'll just say, speed ahead a few years— OW! Geez, man, stop doing that!]

Thalia, Annabeth and boss all vaulted on. It was nice to have someone riding me for a change. Being ridden gave me goals, whether they were throwing the person off or go really fast. This one was get to Olympus—and not to get killed by Porks and Guido on the way.

* * *

Thalia was so tired she fell asleep on Porkpie. Porks then had to endure my and Guides' comments on how she so had the hots for him. We were _so _screwed after this.

Porkpie then got revenge by asking how it was. That made me close off. Some things I didn't say, but they managed to get some stuff out of me: my fight with Ares, how Bianca had died, and how Zoë had. Then they did something I never expected.

"Guys," Porkpie said. "I have a secret. It's too big for me to keep alone."

Guido and I looked at each other. What . . . ?

"You guys know the minor god Cratos?"

If I wasn't as good a flyer I was, I would've fallen from the sky right then and there. But I didn't. "What about him?"

"He . . . the gods have a way of blessing people; sometimes mortals; sometimes demigods; sometimes pegasi."

"And he blessed you?" Guido asked. Porkpie looked down. "Yeah. He said . . . he said I should tell anyone, I should tell you guys."

"No surprise there," I muttered. But it all made sense to me now: the reason he'd helped me, the reason he didn't want me to help boss. He wanted Porkpie to be the one that proved to the gods that he was a worthy god. He only let me live because I was an aid for Porks. That slimy toad!

"Well, if you guys are blabbing, then I'm going to," Guido said.

I knew what was coming though. "You went to see Jade," I said. Guido whipped around to me. "What . . . ?"

"She said that you were a special Pegasus. So I assumed you were blessed too. She said something about family, so . . . Hestia?"

"Since when do you use your brain, Jack?" Porkpie said.

I snorted. "I don't know. Maybe the world's changing."

Guido ducked his head for a bit. "It's strange that neither of us have in the least made you nervous, Blackjack. We attract monsters like magnets."

"Oh, and you think I don't?" I scoffed. "Just out of curiosity, when the monsters corner you they must say or ask you something, so what is that?"

"Usually," Porks said, "they say the usual 'time to die' thing, but recently, they've started saying other stuff—they've been trying to make deals with us."

"Yeah," Guido said. "Except we have no idea what they're talking about."

"What do they say?" I asked again. This was getting confusing. Not only were my two best friends blessed by gods like I was, they had dealings with monsters too.

"They say, 'bring us the Night Pegasus. Call for help.' Who the heck is the Night Pegasus?"

My blood turned cold. Instinctively, I felt myself change the feathers on my wings to daggers. I cursed silently and changed them back. Not only were the monsters trying to kill me, they were trying to kill my friends, and try and get me in the process. That is just _dirty. _

"Jackie? You okay?"

They were seeing my face. I didn't want to be seen suddenly. Boss was riding me, but hey, I was bored. I sunk into the shadows of the night, unable to be seen. "Yo, Jack? Where'd you go?"

"Where'd the kid go?"

"Oh geez, maybe he made a run for it. Maybe . . . well, I can't blame him. Who wants to hang out with the two most dangerous pegasi in the world?"

They had another thing coming.

I had to tell them.

I willed myself to be seen again. I steeled myself for the thing I was about to say. "You guys thing you're the two most dangerous pegasi in the world?" I scoffed. "Trust me, you don't know what the word 'dangerous' means."

Guido jumped back for a second. "Where the heck did you come from?"

"Right here," I said.

"What do you mean?" Porkpie asked. "I think we both know what it means, Jack. It's probably you that doesn't."

"Ha," I said. "Never in your lives have you two been so wrong."

Somehow, everything inside me was screaming to shut up. I couldn't say the four simple words, 'I'm a Night Pegasus.' It was like I was going into lock-down. But I _had _to tell them. Now that I'd given myself away, the weight of the secret was crushing me. I couldn't believe I'd held it in for so long.

"What is with you, Blackjack?" Porks said. He sounded annoyed now. I lifted a wing and swung it on the downstroke, letting out some daggers. I ground my teeth for a second. Guido and Porks stared. "_That _is something that fits to dangerous," I said quietly.

I glided along for a bit, silent. Porkpie broke the silence. "So . . . you have daggers for feathers?"

"Yep," I said grimly. "Daggers, I can summon my own bubble of darkness, and shove people around with concentrated darkness. See a theme emerging?"

"Oh my gods," Guido said. "You're the—"

"Night Pegasus."

* * *

**If you didn't realize, that scene with the stars was the final line of the prophecy: ****_and then he shall stay, to the stars he must see._**

**Comprende? **

**OKAY! We're all good now! **

**Off to the next chapter! Oh, I'll post that one-shot from Opal's POV in a sec. I'm calling it: ****_The Cycle of the Sun._**

**I know it's a cheesy name, but ****_meh. _****That's all I'll say.**

**Until the next chapter,**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hurrah! I am back! Actually, seriously, ****_back. _**

**Okay, so here is the new chapter!**

**Excuses for being so long? My parents banned me from my computer for the holidays. Right now I'm actually not meant to be on it right now except that I'm hiding it my room like the cunning insane fangirl I am. Hehe.**

**Okay, if I haven't warned you already, I've become a massive Doctor Who addict/fan/sad kid that watches it all day. So yes, I have warned you.**

**Review Replies: **

**Child of Kronos: Yes, The Blackjack Tales is a trilogy, so I plan on having three stories: TLT and TSoM, then in this one TTC and TBoL. Then the last one is TLO. And I plan on doing the HoO series too, afterwards. YAY!**

**Nanu Kitty: Awwww, thanks, TJ! :3 Really? Was Guido's blessing that hard to see? I don't know, when I write it I panic that it's too obvious, so . . . yeah. **

* * *

**_Chapter 18: Touch Down_**

None of us said anything else the way to Olympus. And I'll tell you _right now _that it was _really _strange having your best buds stare at you with wide eyes, looking you over _every freaking single time. _I mean, sure, I was a Night Pegasus—well, _the _Night Pegasus—but how was I supposed to deal with _their _oh-so-discreet bombshells, huh? [Shut up, boss.]

When we _did _get to Olympus I wasn't that sure what to expect. Part of me was hoping that Nyx would be there to shut those to up because I _knew _they'd never let me hear the end of this when we got back to camp, and then the other half was hoping that she wasn't there so I didn't seem that impressive. Basically I wanted something to happen to shut them up. [What the heck was that for? Now be quiet so I can keep going.]

We circled over mid-town Manhattan, and Olympus didn't look that friendly. With Zeus cooking up a storm with lightning and thunder, I wasn't too desperate to get too close. But _try telling that to boss. _Olympus looked as I'd always seen it. I'm not some soppy romantic or something that appreciates beauty by putting huge long words in, so I'll stick with it looked awesome. [Mwahahaha! Get that, _hopeless romantic. _OUCH!]

We glided down at landed in the outer courtyard. Boss began to walk towards them. "Good luck, boss," I told him. He'd need it. "Yeah," he said. He looked depressed. Time to cheer him up with some good ol' Blackjack humour. "Hey, if ya don't come back, can I have your cabin for my stable?"

He looked at me with the word: _WHAT? _Printed all over his face. Well, not literally, but you can't say he was depressed anymore! "Just a thought," I added innocently. "Sorry."

Tip: never in my life have I been sorry about something like that. [Geez!]

And then I got to see that dramatic scene where they all walk into the throne room. Aww. [Aha! That was— a fail.]

Well, I said part of me was hoping Nyx would show up. Except that part of me wasn't hoping that Nyx, _Cratos and _Hestia would show up _with _her. Nyx had her arms crossed and was glaring at Cratos from the corner of her eye. She looked _pretty _mad. "Night Pegasus, you have prevailed once more," she said, still eyeing Cratos. The body-builder/god clapped his hands and grinned. "Yes! Great work, Jacky-o."

I cocked my head to the side. "_Jacky-o? _Seriously?"

Porkpie took a small step towards the god. "Hey, Lord Cratos."

"Porks, my ol' horse! How ya doing?"

"Cratos, this is a matter of _importance," _Nyx snapped at him. Cratos slung an arm over Porks's neck, giving me a grin that could only say, _got you now, huh? _

"As you three I am aware—I _hope_"—she looked at me—"that three is a sacred number in Ancient Greece. You three are the three blessed pegasi of the age. The night, the strength, and the family flame. Never before has this been done. And never before have the pegasi been friends before they found out they were blessed."

Guido started, "But I thought—"

"Guido, you were blessed before you were born. So, in a sense, you were born blessed. Some were more carefully picked than others, and then others . . . were too special to leave out," Hestia winked at me with her fiery eyes. "And in every generation there has been a problem that the pegasi have faced—whether it be a painful fate or a cunning hero. But in this age, there is far more problem than there has ever been. The fate with pain is the worst there has ever been, and a creature that should not exist does. Special can be described as dangerous, painful, targeted."

"And this time there's more to it than the gods realised," Cratos went on. "The one prophecy that has always been completed has become two—two of the most important prophecies the world has ever seen; the ones with the most pain, and the ones that require the most courage."

"Sacrifices are never easy to make," Nyx said. "But they have to be, or everything comes crumbling down. Even when you thought you had nothing to lose . . . something slips away."

I didn't bother to think that. I knew everything I had to lose. And it could easily be taken from me. All to easily. So easily that I was afraid that one morning I would make up and find it all . . . gone.

"So, Porkpie, Guido, Blackjack," Nyx said. "You three are the pegasi of the age. You are the ones that, in a sense, carry the fate of the world on your shoulders. In the beginning of this you thought you were an unlucky Pegasus with a fate you didn't want," Nyx shook her head. "But it's bigger than that. Only now can I see just _how _much bigger."

She took a step back. "My realm is one of the largest. But the threat that is coming is something far bigger. You think Kronos is the beginning and the end. But he isn't. He is the beginning _of _the end."

And just like that, they were all gone.

* * *

If I ever hear the phrase 'I told you so' again, I will kill the person or horse or monster or _god _that says it. I swear. "I told you so," Guido snapped at Porks as we flew back to camp. "You so did not!" Porks snapped. "I told _you _so!"

"And I'm telling you two _right now: _SHUT UP!" I yelled.

"Ooh, have we made Jack angry? No! We have to run!" Porkpie mocked. I groaned and dove down. Guido and Porks were cacking it as they dove down after me. I pulled out of the dive late enough to scare a driver into thinking that some sort of demon was descending on him so he swerved off the highway and pulled over, before starting to run. Mortals are strange.

I rose up again into the sky, trying to avoid Guido and Porkpie's maddening conversation with 'I told you so's as common as strange mortals. I kept my jaw clenched the whole time, trying to avoid an outburst that _may or may not _result in an explosion of really cool stuff (in my opinion) or daggers for feathers. Of course I slipped up a few times, but hey, I tried! [Like you can talk!]

So, by the time we touched down at camp, I was trudging ahead of laughing Porks and Guides. At first I'd been laughing, except then they'd moved onto . . . other topics. Don't get me wrong, I love my buds!—well, not like _that, _strange people—but yeah. But when they had asked me what made me special, I refused to say the line, 'I'm a manifestation of loose ideas'. Nope. Nada. _No. _

Then when I didn't tell them, the 'I told you so's had started. It's surprising, no matter how much you hate your enemies . . . you always end up hating your friends _way _more at times. All I can say is: thank the gods Opal told me to shut up before I did anything.

Seriously, I landed, she stood there, and said: "Shut up." I guess it was probably because I had opened my mouth to say something. Then she smiled and shoved me into Porks and Guides so we fell like dominoes. "Nice to see you, too!" she said. Porks groaned and dug himself out from under me and Guido. "Geez, you guys. You horses are _freaking _idiots."

"Yes, we are," I groaned and got up. Opal was watching us smugly. "You know there are some horses that fit the description of 'ridiculous' so well they could be the stereotype for it?"

"I never realised," Guido muttered. "Oh, really?" I asked. "I knew it all along!"

"Shut up, _Jacky-o._"

"Oh my gods—you are _dead, _Porks!"

"Oh sh—" he started galloping before he could finish. "Man, you have a rude mouth, Porks!" I yelled after him and started flying after him. Yep, we were good.

* * *

You know those moments when you think for too long? Well, sometimes—most of the time—I get those. The bad thing about being a Night Pegasus (yes, another one) is that you can't really . . . sleep. At _night. _And I don't plan on becoming nocturnal any time soon so I'm just missing out on some sleep. Got that? Good.

I'm still going on the belief I get plenty of sleep when I get captured/kidnapped by the Titans. [Well, boss, when the day comes that _you _get kidnapped by someone you'll realize that you _do _tend to sleep. Huh? Yeah, Annabeth _would _kill you, but we won't go there.]

I was _pretty _sure that my friends got sleep though. I mean, not everyone is a Pegasus that hardly sleeps, right?

Wrong.

Opal gave me a shove. "What are you doing in the middle of the night?"

"It's actually 2:17 on the dot."

Opal nodded to herself. "Definitely off the rocker."

"Did it take you _that _long to figure that out?"

"No," she smiled sweetly—the kind of sweet that kids give when they 'accidently' set fire to something and destroy it. "But that's a story for another time."

I rolled my eyes. "So what have you been doing while I've been catching up with . . . what do we call it? _Old friends_?"

"Well . . ." Opal started, but she was cut off by a blinding flash. I looked up and saw a woman with pale silver hair looking at me. She narrowed her eyes. "_You're _the Night Pegasus?—No, wait, ignore that. _Of course _you're the Night Pegasus—so what are you doing with _her_?"

"Well, that's a bit—"

"This isn't your _business, _Selene," Opal snapped. The woman, _Selene—_did she mean the Moon Goddess? Wel,l it wouldn't surprise me—crossed her arms. "Oh, but it most _definitely _is, Sun Pegasus. You two are perhaps the most sought-after pegasi of the age. Oh yes, go on about the Three Pegasi but the very simple thing is: you two are the ones they want. And the interesting thing is, you two are each other's end."

"What are you—?"

"Selene, now is _not the time_," Opal's voice was deadly calm. Something told me she'd had the same conversation with this woman _many _times.

"Oh, but it is, _Sun _Pegasus," Selene murmured. She rose her voice again; "'_one is sun, one is night; one is the ever-approaching dark; one is the final light, one shall bear the other's mark.' _Do you wonder what has been the talk of the Titans? The boy of the prophecy isn't there problem. Maybe when they draw their final breaths, yes, but the main factor, the loose forces that could throw everything to a side like garbage . . . are you two."

"What? Listen—"

"Blackjack, ignore her. She has no say. She's a coward."

"A _cunning _coward, my dear. Loose forces—what about loose ideas?" her silvery eyes fixed on me. "What about your secrets, Night Pegasus? What about these _loose ideas _that you are hiding ever so well? Do you think Opal would trust you ever again if they were to spill?"

"Blackjack, what's she talking about?"

"Ah, so you _haven't _told her," Selene's eyes shone with cunning, maybe even malice. "Haven't told her why you are so special. Why special can mean the same thing as dangerous, targeted . . . what about _loose_? What about _manifestation_? Have you thought of that?"

"Jack, end this _right now_."

But I couldn't say a word. There were my secrets—_all _of them—and this goddess was willing to spill them all _right in front of me. _She was willing to say everything that scared even _me_. She had the power to turn most of the pegasi at this camp against me—oh my gods, cabin 5!—and she was all too willing to do it.

"He isn't going to help you, dear," Selene said absently. "The only way you're going to get them is through _me_. The first one: Night Pegasus—"

_"No_," I said. "Those aren't your secrets to give."

"But I know them. Finders keepers. If I have them, I can tell them."

"You wouldn't dare," I was scared. I was scared that she was going to tell Opal—_my _Opal—all about me. That I was Roman, that I was a Night Pegasus, that I was something the gods feared. Why would she do that? Then it clicked: she wants Opal to hate me. She wants Opal on the Titans' side. She _needs _Opal. There was only one way I could get out of this, and fighting wasn't an option. It was luck.

Not much to go on. Especially in my case.

"Fine then," I said. "Tell her."

Selene looked at me, her eyebrows raised. "You're willing to let me go ahead and spill everything that sets you apart from everyone else? I bet you _she _wouldn't do that."

"Loose ideas I can lose. Night Pegasus is even bigger than you, Selene."

Her eyes shone. "For once you are correct."

She looked back at Opal. "This horse"—she jabbed her thumb at me—"is a _manifestation. _He shouldn't exist. He _can't _exist. His father, Phoenix, you know where that horse was from? You know what blood he carried?"

I knew Selene was taunting me. She wanted to make me feel pain. _Why are all these people so sadistic?! _ Opal looked at me frantically, but I didn't move. What was I going to do? I'd practically signed my own death/hate warrant.

"Phoenix was a born and raised Roman Pegasus. His mother was a Greek. That's why she's half-blind. All pegasi are strange—creatures of air, sea and land—but this one's even more so. Roman, Greek, Night . . . but also Day. What makes him even more different is that he _knows _what he is. And he has never tried to stop it."

"Wait, what?" I stopped her. "You can't _stop _these things."

Selene smiled. "Or can you?"

Opal was looking at me with wide eyes. "Blackjack, she isn't serious, is she? _Please _tell me she's not."

"Oh, and the things I could tell you about _this one_," Selene mused. "She may not have as dark secrets as you, but _boy _I could have some fun with them."

"No," I said. "One lot of secrets is enough."

"You're such an enigma," Selene said distastefully. "A mere shadow of the night."

I looked at her—maybe I was glaring, but she had _insulted _me where no one else had. "You're telling me? What about you, Moon Goddess with _no moon_?"

Selene hissed. "You'll pay for that, trust me. You _will_."

Then she flashed away. I looked around for Opal. "Opal?" I called. "_OPAL!" _

I saw her in the sky, flying _away _from me. I started to go after her, but someone stepped in front of me and raised her hand. "No, Blackjack. Let her go."

"What? I just . . . I can't . . ." I pawed the ground in frustration. Nyx lowered her hand. "You expect her to get over the shock of you being half invaders-of-Greece _that _easily?" Nyx gave a small smile. "I can't tell whether she hates you or not, but I know that it's hard to deal with."

"No duh," I snapped. Nyx gave me her evil-eye, which is even worth than Ares's. "Where's your manners, Night Pegasus?" Nyx snapped. " Sure, go and save a small portion of the world, but you still need to respect your elders!"

"Sorry," I muttered. Nyx looked away. "I suggest finding her near dawn. She likes the sun, as you know."

"How old am I, Nyx?" I asked. I guess pegasi lose track of time. But what I don't get . . . is that pegasi can live to millennia. Why had my dad died then? Did that mean that I was older than I thought? And then . . . my mother had gone _blind _in her eye. Going blind takes a while, even with gods.

Nyx looked at my sympathetically. "I can't tell you that, Blackjack. Only that you are what you make yourself to be. Whether that means you are two hundred or five, it matters what you do with those years you've had."

"So . . . you know, and you won't tell me?"

"In short: yes. But you, Guido and Porkpie are around the same age. Roughly."

"What about Opal?"

Nyx pursed her lips and looked at her clasped hands. "Opal is . . . a special case. I know nothing of her. Only she can tell you what she wishes. Selene . . ." Nyx made a gagging sound. "Don't get me started on her. She and Helios gave me a heck of a lot of trouble. But then, Helios is gone. Selene has herself in a good spot—a humiliating one, but a strong one."

"What does she want with Opal, though?"

"Selene is an arrogant woman," Nyx said, she sounded tired, as if she'd had this conversation many times and she hated talking about it. "She believes she is best. She believes that what she says goes, which isn't true. So, it is logical that she would side with the Titans. Goddess of the Moon with no power over it. She wants the Titans to destroy the Olympians so she can reclaim it."

"But Opal . . . ?" I asked. Nyx was avoiding the question. She looked at me carefully, her brilliant eyes searching my face, as if looking for a reason to trust me.

"You are my Night Pegasus," she said, as if reading my thoughts. "I may trust you to do what's right, but I don't know whether I _should _trust you with this. If the Titans succeed, they will need the help of both something in Night and something in Day. Selene is helping them with the small connection she has with the moon, but no one can help them for Day. So they need someone who can . . ." She looked at me again. "I want to trust you with this, Blackjack. You have to make me believe that I can. Trust was something I picked you on, but it is easy to sway. I have seen much of it."

"You can trust me, Nyx," I said. "I'm not going to do anything stupid."

"Oh, you'll do something stupid all right," she said. "But your trust isn't. Swear upon the River Styx that this isn't something that you can share. This is Opal and Opal alone who can deal out her secrets beyond this, understood?"

"I swear upon the River Styx that I won't say anything of this to anyone else that I want to because this isn't my secret." Thunder rumbled.

Nyx nodded gravely. "Opal perhaps has nearly as much sway over the sun as Apollo. In fact, she has a deeper connection with it than even him. If she were to side with the Titans, they would surely win. That's why the gods don't want you to like her. If she _were _to side with the Titans, it is almost certain that you would go after her."

That sentence caught me off-guard. It made anger swell in me so that I could barely control myself. My voice was tight. "You think, that after all the Titans did to me—"

"A broken heart is a powerful thing, Night Pegasus," Nyx said, looking away. "A terrible power, but power. I do not think that if you were thinking straight you would ever go, but love can be cruel. That is why so many make bad mistakes. But enough about that. If Opal were to go and you followed, you would have signed the warrant for the fall of Olympus. Nothing could ever stand a chance."

I lowered my head to the ground, feeling the blades of grass tickled my nose. "Why is everything so . . . so freaking _important_? I can't do this, I can't do that—why? Because Olympus will freaking _fall _if I do. It's enough to drive someone mad, Nyx."

She nodded, still looking away. "Which is why you are a Night Pegasus and a lesser Pegasus is not. You friends may aid you, may be the pegasi of the age, but in the end it comes down to you and you alone." She looked back at me, and seeing my the look on my face she went on: "Fair is a minor word, Blackjack. Like many gods, I hear it so much. And yes, I am always surprised how much faith people put into fairness when it means so little. The blunt of it is that most of the time, life isn't fair. . . ." She paused, looking down at me. "But it is always level. It is Fate."

And then she was gone.

There was a sound of wings behind me, and I straightened up. "Blackjack?"

I froze. Instinctively I drew my wings in closer, so tight that they were making my shoulders tremble. I looked around. "Hey, Opal."

She looked down. "Um . . ." she looked at me, and gave a small laugh. "Talk about _awkward_." She wiped the smile off her face. ". . . I don't hate you, if that's anything good."

"_What?_" I staggered for a second. "So . . . I'm a jumble of random things that you should _really _hate me for, like being half Roman—"

"Invasion of the 'Hot Italians'," she said, cracking a smile. "According to Silena." **(A/N: I WARNED YOU! Doctor Who rules, people!) **

"Uh-huh."

"Look, just . . . it was a shock, okay? I mean, the horse _I _always thought was just an idiot—"

"Is a really dangerous, powerful idiot that the gods would like to see dead because that would lessen their problems? Yep, that's me."

"You sound like me," she muttered. I cocked my head in confusion, and she gave a sly smile. "You're not the only Pegasus with secrets, you know. And you never will be."

I gave her my trademark grin, and willed myself into the night. Opal narrowed her eyes, still looking _right _at me, even if she couldn't see me. Light blazed around her, revealing me in the darkness. She gave a smug snort. "Take that, Night Pegasus."

"You cheated."

"I did not!" she laughed. "You used _your _trick, and I used mine." The light died, but it still glowed on the golden in her feathers, and her eye. I noticed her forelock covering her right eye. "Opal, why do you hide your other eye?"

She snapped back to seriousness, even sadness. "Ever heard the saying, 'eyes are the windows to the soul'?" the bitterness in her voice made me jump back. She looked at me closely. "You'll have to remove me from that. There's no way to see whether I have a soul or not."

"Yes, you do," I said. "You're Opal. You're . . . bright. Bubbly. You're a nice Pegasus."

She gave a small smile, but it disappeared in a bitter line of her mouth. She pawed the ground once with her hoof, scraping away the snow. "I trust you, Blackjack," she said. "And, as advice, you shouldn't trust me."

I was taken aback. "_Whaaaaat?" _

"I said, you shouldn't trust me," the bitterness wasn't in her voice anymore. It was deadly serious, even desperate. "You _can't, _please." She looked down. "So I need to give you a reason."

She shook her head so that her long forelock came off her eye. It was nearly as long as her face. She closed her eyes as she looked up. "Brace yourself."

I set my jaw, determined not to be surprised. She opened her eyes slowly, but whatever I tried I couldn't help but be surprised.

Her eyes were opposites. One was chocolate-brown with flecks of bright gold, and the other _was _gold with tiny flecks of brown. She looked away, hiding her eye. "I knew that would happen."

"No, Opal, I— I just wasn't expecting—"

"No," she said miserably. "No one ever is."

"Opal, listen to me _right now," _I guess my tone of voice made her take me seriously. She looked back at me with only her left eye. "I don't care that one of your eyes is like that. It's . . . not something I take seriously. That's like me saying did you hate me when you found me in the state I was in on the _Princess Andromeda. _That's like me saying that you hated me _after _I got back. I don't care that one of your eyes looks like that. It looks like you. Bright. . . . Bubbly."

"Nice eye instead of Pegasus?" she asked, like a tiny foal with that hopeful voice. I gave her a shove. "It's possible to have a nice pair of eyes _and _be a nice Pegasus, you know. I mean, am I insane? Yes, I am—no, I am _definitely _insane—but I still have friends—even if they may or may not be insane, well, you aren't, right? Actually, ignore that—the point is that we all have our faults and flaws, and most of the time they're also our strengths."

She looked at me seriously. "You sound like a real Paired Pegasus."

I shook that off. She didn't know, right? Well, I hoped to the gods that she didn't, anyway. I winked at her. "We all have our secrets."

She grinned, and opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment a warm breeze blew through. It wasn't a normal breeze, either. Opal and I looked at each other with wide eyes. Opal said, with both fear and excitement, "Pan."

* * *

**HURRAY! I have finished the Titan's Curse at ****_last_****! Hurray!**

**I'm too happy. *sigh***

**Righto, stay tuned for the next chapter, which I shall hopefully have finished soon, just I had an awesome idea for a story and I'm writing it so . . . that doesn't mean I'll forget about Blackjack! I love writing about him! Just I need to nut out the basis of that idea before I forget it all.**

**Wow, I'm being strange. ****_Basis. _****Geez.**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Until the next chapter,**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**


	20. Chapter 20

**Okay guys, I know I've disappeared for a long time, and that would be because I've been banned from my computer, which is how I do my writing.**

**What I have here is a taster of the next chapter from TTM. Hopefully you'll forgive me for disappearing. **

**I don't like it either!**

**Review Replies:**

**trustingHim17: Thanks!**

**Nanu Kitty: I know what you mean. I start fangirling over the strangest things . . . Well, here it is! I have returned with the taster! WHOOHOO!**

**JamesSonOfAthena: Yes, yes it is.**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and my words**

* * *

_**Chapter 19: Why Do Holidays Never Last?**_

So, we all know that holidays are things that we love. I mean, mortals slug through school all year so that they get two months of holidays at the end of it. Me? I mean, me, a Night Pegasus who follows a kid on these ridiculous quests because that's my job (that I don't get paid for, mind you)? Well, I get more like . . . a bit of holidays.

As in, boss goes back to _his _school which he ends up blowing up on the Orientation Day - [Ow! Jeez, dude! It's true, anyway!] - and then he ends up back at camp and goes on a quest. **(A/N: I'm writing this on my iPod, okay? And I don't have word on that, so we're down to the little high-fins. They annoy me too.)**

There goes my holiday.

Just to clear up a bit of confusion, for those of you that have lost track of time like I have - not being in mortal and immortal danger does that to you - the main issue is this Titan Lord called Kronos, who is (surprise, surprise) trying to take over the world and destroy Olympus and blah, blah, blah. The usual plans for world domination.

The problem with that simple picture is the fact that he wants _me _- as in, the completely awesome kick-butt Pegasus me - to join sides with him, and since he captured me before and then forced me to side with him and escaped, the threat of "if you don't join me I will destroy everything and everyone you care about" has hung around.

Added with the fact that I'm a Night Pegasus - blessed by the Primordial Nyx (long story) - and am one of the great pegasi of the age (longer story), _and _the fact that I have a friend that all the gods hate and it gets confusing, named Opal - _Oh! _I left out the fact that I'm a Paired Pegasus, and that that means that there's this hero that has a fate tangled in with mine - it really gets confusing, you just can't say that enough - and you have a nice complicated story.

Did I leave out the fact that every god I have met has warned me that I will have great pain in my future? Well, there's that too. We could go into details about the manifestation of loose ideas and such, but I'm not in a philosophical mood. [Shut up.]

So . . . how should we start?

Well, it started when Silena Beauregard admitted to Opal that she liked Beckendorf . . .

* * *

". . . and then she was like, 'Opal, I think I have the hots for Beckendorf'!" Opal cried, bouncing around and occasionally using her wings to hover or jump higher. I stared at her as she bounced around. "Uh . . . sorry to, uh, be such a bad sport, but I'm not really into this stuff."

_"WHAT?" _Opal ploughed into me, knocking me over. I fell onto my back, my wings pinned under me. Opal was giving me the death stare right in the face. "What did you say?"

"Uh . . ." It's amazing how easily you can deal with monsters and be utterly terrified of your friends. ". . . No, no I didn't say that . . ."

"Oh, but I think you did." Opal's golden eye was giving me such a bad stare that it was freaking me out. She looked ready to fry me. How was I to know girls were so touchy?

"Uh . . ."

"Did I hear that wrong? Because I'm hoping I heard it wrong."

"Yeah—you heard it completely wrong!" I never thought I'd be afraid of _Opal, _for crying out loud! Why? Why is my life _so freaking confusing_?

"Oh, that's good," she started to back off, and then glared at me harder. "Then what _did _you say?"

"Uh . . . I said . . . um . . ."

"Uh—I said—um . . .what?"

"I said that's great! Wow, that's interesting!"

Opal gave me a 'seriously?' look. "You are _such _an idiot," she started laughing, letting me stand up. "I can't _believe _how stupid you are!"

"I'm hurt." I got to my feet, shuffling my wings.

Opal was still laughing. "You . . . you _completely—"_

"Uh, Opal—looks like someone's here to crash the party."

Sure enough, there he was—the bane of my holidays: boss. By the looks of it, he and Annabeth weren't getting along all that well at the present second. As in, she looked even worse than Opal had seconds before—just she looked _murderous—_and wouldn't look at boss.

Ouch.

[Hey! That was unnecessary!]

"Ah, well, I'd better be going," Opal said, cantering off—probably to Silena or something. [Now, this is the bit where I tell you the inside goss of camp at the time—and by now, boss as probably figured out (I mean the 16-year-old boss), back then he was still someone that attracted attention—yeah, for _that _reason. Urgh. To be honest, I'd rather get the death stare from Opal again.]

So, where was I . . . ? Oh yeah! Well, I then went looking for the buds—who were sadly not around (Guido was off to see Jade and Porkpie was, well, we'll stick with he had finally got a crush. It made me sick, too. I'm not much of a mushy horse like that. Maybe it's because I'm too familiar with the threat of death. The creepy thing was it was one of Opal's friends—Felicia. Remember the one that was talking to Opal that time on the way to Olympus? Before Opal became one of my best friends? Yeah, her—small dark grey filly, slightly dappled with sooty-coloured wings. She was kinda cute—like, small fuzzy animal cute. So I guess it doesn't take a genius to work out why a big, stocky, mustering-type kind of pegasi—almost like a quarter-horse. You know that mortal breed of horse, the one with the big body, shorter, muscled legs and a thick, strong neck. That sort of horse.

Wow, maybe I_ am _in a philosophical mood. I mean, how often to I describe what one of my best mates looks like like _that_? That was like something in an encyclopaedia! Jeez. I've lost it. [No comment, boss. _No comment._]

Well, anyway, back to what we were talking about. [It's not my fault I can't stay on topic! Some bright-smart gave me oats today!]

Okay, so, since I had no immediate friends around that were in the least bit interested in what I was doing, I decided to head into the woods—since we all know it's crawling with monsters that don't hesitate in ripping your head off. In other words: I was bored.

Yeah, that cleared up the confusion.

In the woods, the temperature dropped immediately and the light faded. In the dark, I felt more comfortable. The bad thing was they'd cleaned the monsters out of the woods, apparently. Because I couldn't see anything, and even in the darkness I couldn't pick up _any _movements. Except maybe . . .

"Ow!" Something was holding onto my back left hoof. From what I could see, it looked like a bug-thingy. Almost like a spider, just with pincers and a really long, curled tail with a stinger on it . . .

Its pincers were around my hoof. I wasn't sure if it was going to kill me with the stinger or not so I figured I should try to kill it before it killed me.

I gave it a huge kick and then aimed some daggers at it, but I felt more pincers close around my other legs, and one pinned my wing.

"Jeez, the one day I _want _some action and it freaking _beats _me!" I snapped. I raised my free wing and flapped it once, hard enough to send me spinning, making the thing holding my wing fall off, letting my use both my wings.

In the better light I could see that the things were scorpions. Scorpions with beady black eyes and frothing mouths. I tried to shake them off, but these ones knew how to hold on. I swerved into a tree, knocking one off and giving the other a chance to crawl up my leg.

_Ouch _was all the time I had to think before I was hurtling towards the ground, unable to flap my wings. Of course! The freaking venom! Those morons!

I slammed into the ground, but then suddenly the ground gave way under me, and I smashed into something _much _harder. Probably stone.

I looked up, and there was only a faint smudge of light. My vision was blurry, and I couldn't feel anything except a killer headache.

I realised there was a faint light in the room—faint blue, and almost aquamarine light—the sort of light you get when there's illuminated water in a cave, that sort. Greenish ripples danced across the roof of the cavern. I tried to look across, but I couldn't move.

_What have we here? A bird fallen from the sky? _A bright white shape was in front of me. I couldn't make much of it out, just the white shape. _A poisoned bird. _There was a faint gasp. Brilliant, I managed to think with a fevered brain. Another one.

_The cry of night less than heard,_

_From the sky of day falls a poisoned bird,_

_Fall shall he from the cry of night, _

_Long does he for forbidden light. _

The white thing was saying those lines, I was sure, but I just couldn't . . . _think. _

The light began to fade, and I was consumed by black.

* * *

**Whoohoo! I have now officially posted the chapter. YAY!**

**NO, he isn't dead. _Jeez! _Just if you had seen some of the fanart, then we're getting close to one of the slightly spoiler scenes . . . well, okay, I'll tell you a little spoiler:**

**He's in the Labyrinth.**

***evil laugh* I'm gonna enjoy that!**

**Okay, until the next chapter,**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**


	21. Chapter 21

**Righto, I'm back! (Finally). **

**I'm going to dedicate this chapter to TJ, since she's got the blues at the moment and needs some cheering up. Yeah, this isn't exactly in teh hour but . . . it nearly is!**

**Review replies:**

**Cat: That's just like you, Cat. I laughed at that. I still laugh every time I see it. hehe. **

**Beaulover: thanks! Hey, do you have a horse called Beau? Well, I looked at your profile (I DON'T TAKE REVIEWS FOR GRANTED!) and you love horses . . . YAY! Do you have a horse? Would he be called Beau? I know a horse called Beau. He's a little gun.**

**You like Opal that much? Aw! Well, there's some art of her on the owlcat92 deviantART account. It's called OwlWingedHorses. Wow I tell people that a lot . . . and I recommend looking up NanuKitty. SHE'S GOT COOL STUFF!**

**Nanu Kitty: Well, I gave you the first letter in a PM, so . . . yeah. In some coming chapter I'll put it in in code or something, or a hint. Alas, none of you have got my name yet. Shame.**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and my words**

**EDIT:**

**UH . . . sorry with the confusion, because I posted the last chapter twice, when I meant to post this one . . . sorry for being such an idiot.**

* * *

**_Chapter 20: MIA_**

When I woke up, I felt like garbage.

I groaned, not really remembering anything other than the fact I had had an unwelcome introduction to the ground. I sat up, trying to get to my feet.

_Be still, Night Pegasus, you have yet to heal._

I froze. "Uh . . . could you enlighten me on who you are?" I asked it. The white shape I'd seen before—oh yeah! I'd hit the ground, fallen _through _the ground, and then ended up here—after the scorpion stung me!

Ouch.

Anyway, the white shape I'd seen before came into my field of vision. It wasn't actually a shape, instead it was a feminine shape, with no real skin tone at all, just as white as a marble statue. In fact, that's a good way to describe her. She was tall, and she hovered above the ground like a ghost. If I didn't know that ghosts don't actually look like that, I might have thought she _was _one.

Her flowing white robes billowed around her as she stood. Her face was slim and angular, with blank white eyes, white hair that flowed out behind her, held off her face with some sort of silver circlet over her brow. She may have been marble, but she didn't look like stone—more like a sort of hard mist, so she looked almost like she was a normal person—skin and bones—but she wasn't.

She radiated a white light, except for her circlet, which I couldn't pin down as a colour, it was silver one second, then gold, then blue then green then purple then—

Let's just say she looked _very _pale in the spots she had colour, other than that she was a white wraith-like woman. She hovered in front of me. _You are safe here. It is a sacred place of Fate._

"I may be safe, but I have to get back—how long have I been here?" I grimaced and got to my feet. I had trouble putting weight on one of my back legs. The woman's face didn't change, she just remained staring at me blankly. _Time cannot be told down here, for it has no hold. _

"Great . . . um, who are you?"

_Such cannot be revealed until the time is right, Night Pegasus. And it is not now. You have been injured—poisoned—you must remain here and rest. _

I looked up, trying to see the faint smudge of the world above. I could only see a dim crack. "Where'd the hole go?"

_Nothing has an absence of life. Everything heals as you would, for we are all alive. This very cavern has a heartbeat, it heals, it wounds, it ages. It lives, and someday, it shall die._

"So . . . this place is _alive_? How am I meant to get home?"

_It was never foretold you would leave. And until it is, you may not leave._

I groaned silently. Another one. "Well, some fates are meant to be changed," I told her.

The woman didn't react. _All actions have consequence. Sometimes it does not happen to the one who performed the action, but they happen. _

"I accept them. Until then, I do what I have to do. You should know that all consequences cause actions." I pumped my wings and jumped off the ground, heading to the gap in the stone.

I realised it was moving—bubbling like lava. I pounded my wings as hard as they could carry me. I was going to get through that hole!

I guess I was doing okay when I crashed into open air. But then I _wasn't _doing that well when my back hooves got caught in it. I pulled and pulled and pulled . . . and pulled a bit more . . . I kicked and struggled in every way, but my hooves could _not _get out.

"Dude, what the heck did you _do_?!" A bay colt wandered through the trees and saw me struggling. The right side of his face was white and his black mane was blown over the left side. Was that a new look or something?

"Well, he looks like he's a bit stuck," said another colt that was draped over a branch on a nearby tree. This one had white over the left of his face and his mane tossed to the right. They were both small, maybe yearling size, but they _definitely _were older.

"Look, if you want to just annoy me, then by all means continue," I snapped, trying to pull my hooves from the ground again. "What do you think, Kitt? Should we leave him there, or should we use some of our skills?" the one on the ground asked.

"It depends on what he wants, Nanu," Kitt replied. I froze. Nanu . . . and Kitt? Oh dear . . .

Ah, you people need clarification! Right, you know the Stolls? Nanu and Kitt are basically the pegasi equivalent. The pranksters of the place. This wouldn't be good. [Stop laughing like that!]

Nanu turned to me. "Well, would you like _our _help to get you out, or would you prefer to be left alone stuck in the stone for the rest of your miserable life?"

"Gee, that's polite," I muttered, throwing myself forward to try and get my hooves out and failing. I looked up at them from the ground. "But I guess I'm going to need help."

Both colts grinned. Kitt launched himself from the branch he was on and cantered over. "Right," Nanu said. "Kitt—go and get the mixture. I'll go get Mickey." [Be quiet.]

They both galloped off, leaving me stuck in the ground again. I decided to wait stubbornly on the ground. I don't know how long exactly I waited there, but after a while both the colts returned with a big Cabin 5 un-dead skeletal horse.

"Righto," Kitt said. "This here—"

"Is Mickey—" Nanu said.

"Who is going to kindly—"

"Pull you out of the ground—"

"While we use this!" Kitt held up a bucket of some green liquid between his teeth. "It wosen't smewl woo wad," he said with it still in his mouth. I swallowed. These guys were definitely worth being scared of.

Mickey came over and grabbed a mouthful of my mane. Kitt and Nanu went and stood where my hooves were jammed in the ground.

"Wone," Kitt said.

"Two."

"Fwee."

Mickey pulled me from my mane (just so you know horse don't have nerve endings on the hair in their mane, just their tail, so it didn't hurt) and Kitt poured the green stuff over my hooves.

There was a huge _POP! _like a balloon and I tumbled out onto the dirt. The bad thing was that Kitt had been lying. The stuff smelled foul. [Shut up.]

"Urgh—what the heck _is _that stuff?" I asked them. Kitt put down the bucket. "It's a mixture of grass—"

"—Oil—"

"—Nectar—"

"—Straw—"

"—and a tiny bit of ambroisa," Kitt finished. "It eats away all non-organic matter. Well, technically rock_ is _organic matter . . ."

"It eats away stuff that we want it to," Nanu said. "Because of the godly food in it. Kitt just likes to make it sound fancy. Basically it eats dead stuff."

I stared at them. "So . . . like my _hooves_?"

"Oh," they said. "Yeah . . ."

I stared down at my back feet and saw—

Nothing. They were fine. That didn't make sense. Hooves were made up of like, dead skin cells or something—like hair and human nails (well, they sort of are the horse equivalent of nails)—so why weren't they getting eaten away?

Mentally I sighed. This had something to do with being a Night Pegasus, didn't it?

Nanu and Kitt cocked their heads so their ears were touching. "That's odd."

"Maybe we were wrong."

"Doubt it. When are we wrong?"

"Maybe he's an odd one."

"Darn right."

Mickey started walking away. "Thanks, Mick!" the two colts called after him. The skeletal horse tossed its head like he was rolling his eyes, since he couldn't exactly do that, because . . . yeah.

"Right," I said. "I'll be going."

"Nice to meet you, dude," they said in unison. I found that slightly creepy.

"Hey—when you need someone pranked, just come around—we work for a reasonable fee!"

I rolled my eyes and started walking away.

* * *

Sadly, it seemed that I had been gone a lot longer than a few hours. Honey was berserk when I finally came back to the stables. "Blackjack! Where on _earth _were you?! I WAS WORRIED SICK!"

I winced as she yelled at me. She lets me go on insane quests but deep down she's still a mum. A mum who worries a lot. And yells at me for making her worried. Because she cares a lot.

I guess I'm cruel to her. She just lost Phoenix, and she doesn't need to lose me, too.

"I'm sorry, Mum," I told her over and over again. Honey then pushed me into my stall and locked the bolt. "You are _so _grounded," she said. Then she sighed.

I stared at her. For a moment she didn't look like my mum anymore. She looked so much _older_. "Mum?" I asked. "Mum, are you okay?"

She looked at me sadly. "Nyx said that you had roots everywhere. She meant it, you know."

"Whoa—_Nyx_?"

"Don't be stupid, Blackjack," Honey said. "Nyx wouldn't leave your mother in the dark."

I smiled nervously. Okay, she knew what I was. Was that good or bad?

"And I'm not surprised," she said. "'The truest of the true are the ones that are not true at all'," she said. "Blackjack, we all have secrets. Especially me, especially Phoenix—all of us. I think now is the time you knew my secret." She rested her chin on the door of my stall. "My mother was a mortal horse, and my father was a golden eagle. I was the product of an experiment gone wrong with some warlock or something."

Honey sighed. "He thought he could create a Pegasus with those two animals—combine them into one. Instead he managed to multiply them and merge those two. Creating me." Honey looked so wrecked now. I didn't know what to do. "The mortal horse was descended from some of the first horses that Poseidon crafted from the sea foam. The eagle was descended from Zeus's mighty eagle. I'm not a real Pegasus, Blackjack. I thought it was about time you knew that."

* * *

Opal was worse.

She tried to destroy the stall door to yell at me. Gods, I was getting yelled at. "Oh my gods—you complete _idiot! _You could have _died! _You could have . . ."

Opal then started to glare at me. Why at that very moment I noticed that her mane wasn't black anymore I'll never know. It was almost the same colour as her coat—a dark chocolate brown.

"Oi!" she yelled, kicking the door. I jumped. Opal glared at me harder. "Gods you have a short attention span."

"You're mane's a different colour," I blurted out. Opal looked at me strangely. "Yeah . . .? It's called I 'grew up'. I'm not a filly anymore. Gods you're dense, Blackjack."

And then she left me alone.

Which is when boss walked in.

* * *

**WHOOHOO! I have a chapter done! Hopefully I can get back in the groove for posting chapters when school starts again. OH GODS THAT'S TWO DAYS! WHOOHOO!**

**I get Art both semesters . . . yay! **

**I'm looking forward to that. YAY! **

**Okay, until the next chapter,**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello! I am not dead nor am I brain-dead or completely through with this story! Notice I didn't add 'insane' to the list of things I wasn't. Because really, I ****_am _****insane. NEVER EVER FREAKING DOUBT THAT. **

**Okay, I guess I have some explaining to do . . . uh . . . horse trouble? Holidays? ****_Homework? _****Gah! Homework must be destroyed!**

**Okay, so my darling Lucy (my beloved horse. Well, I don't own her but I look after her) has had an eye removed after a tumor in it became cancerous. So she has been rehabilitating. And I have been rocking back and forth on my chair freaking out about her during the holidays and now that riding club has started again I am freaking insane with worry. I WANNA GO SEE HER! MUST - GO - SEE - LUCY!**

**So yeah. And the fact that homework will be the death of me, I swear.**

**Review Replies: **

**Nanu Kitty: THANKS!**

**Guest: OH MY GODS THANK YOU! Well, there have been some colored pictures uploaded recently . . . so yeah . . .**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and my words**

* * *

**_Chapter 21: Growing Mazes_**

"Yo, boss!" I opened my wings a bit, letting them blow the air around. Maybe someone didn't hate me. "Ya bring me some sugar cubes?"

"You know those aren't good for you, Blackjack."

Duh.

"Yeah, so you brought me some, huh?" he held out a hand of white cubes. To say I devoured them was like saying you got a bit knocked up in rugby. The understatement of the century.

"So we got any quests coming up?" I like to know when I have to go back to working, okay? "I'm ready to fly, boss!" _And get to grips with whatever it is that makes me different . . . _I felt like adding.

Boss patted my nose—probably because he couldn't reach much more over the stall door and the fact I was so tall. The dude was only fourteen. He was a shorty. [Ouch. Well, you _were _shorter back then—what are you . . . ? 6 foot? Well, you were _teeny tiny—_] "Not sure, man. Everybody keeps talking about underground mazes."

An image of the white figure came to mind. And the Princess Andromeda. And just about all the dark places I'd been in when I had worked on my definition of 'pain'. "Nuh-uh. Not for this horse!" I looked at him seriously. Was he going too far this time? Or was I just getting . . . _paranoid? _Urgh.

"You ain't gonna be crazy enough to go in no maze, boss. Are ya? You'll end up in the glue factory!" Look, we all know that that is a properly bad place to end up. I mean, first they have to figure out which parts are—oh. Right. Little readers out there, the glue factory is where all the bad—[Geez, what _can _I say that? Okay, let's try again.]—Little readers, the glue factory is where you go if you are _really really really really _naughty. So don't be naughty. Or stupid, for that matter.

Yeah, I was definitely going to end up there somehow. [STOP NODDING!]

"You may be right, Blackjack. We'll see."

I kept chewing, and suddenly went a bit hyper. (Have you seen it when somebody drinks some really strong drink—like Mother or something—and they just start trembling? That's what I mean.) "Whoa! Good stuff!" I started grinning. Sugar + Blackjack = insanely hyper horse. "Well, boss, if you come to your senses and want to fly somewhere, just give a whistle. Ole Blackjack and his buddies, we'll stampede anyone for ya!"

"I'll keep it in mind," he murmured. If I wasn't so hyper, I may have grabbed his shirt and tried to knock some sense into him, but I guess you can't have everything, can you?

* * *

I think it was the jumping that made people realise someone had given me sugar. It's odd how people react differently.

Guido: stares at me as I bounce up at down.

Porkpie: stands next to Guido.

Opal: groans.

Honey: bangs her head against the wall.

Silena Beauregard: watches next to Porkpie with a raised eyebrow.

Chiron: frowns and gets the 'I must find Percy now' look.

Travis and Connor Stoll: high-five and grin as they watch me.

Nanu and Kitt: stare with open mouths. Their heads go up and down like they're watching tennis.

Clarisse: "STOP JUMPING!"

I stopped jumping then. She gave her signature snarl and kept walking. I leaned over the stall door and looked out into the stable; there was hardly anyone in. I guess I could see why my mum had locked me in. Can you imagine letting _me _out? At all?

It was almost dark. I thought my sugar rush had worn off, so I decided to try and use my brains.

Cue the dramatic sinister music. [That's very kind of you. Shut up.] I leaned over the door, grabbing the bolt in my teeth. I yanked it back and the door creaked open. "Oh yeah," I muttered. "Like a boss."

"Really? It's not that hard," Nanu peeked over his stall door. I could only see his eyes. "I mean, I do it all the time."

"Yeah," Kitt said, popping up next to his brother. "I don't see why you're a boss just for doing that."

"Uh . . ." I took a step sideways. "Well, when there are so few things you _can _do like a boss, you feel really good when you do things successfully."

"Told you," Kitt said to Nanu. "He's one of those behind horses."

"I am _not _a behind horse!" I snapped. "I just . . . cop a beating on a daily basis, so get happy too easily."

Nanu's eyes narrowed. "What kind of 'beating'?"

"A kind you're too young for," I said, before galloping off. Okay, okay, Blackjack you're so evil why did you not tell them? Well, reader, (a) because I'd like them to keep their sanity and (b) because I might be a tad high and mighty.

[No, I'm not going to say it again.]

I trotted through the darkness—a sort of welcoming thing after being in the stall all day. Jumping.

I grinned at the memory. That was fun.

"Going somewhere, are we?"

I drove my hooves into the ground, skidding to a halt. I spun around to see Opal. "Yeah," I tried to say. Instead it came out more like "Mmmmm-gah."

Opal gave her unimpressed look. "Where were you going?"

"Fresh air," I said, recovering. Opal's golden eye glittered dangerously. "Is it abnormal not to believe you?"

". . . No," I said, thinking. "It's more abnormal to trust me."

"Yep, I'm abnormal."

"Wow! Someone trusts me!"

Opal hit me with a glare. I guess I was being an idiot. Actually, let's rephrase that—I was being an idiot. [Shut up.]

"Look, are you going to tell me what you're doing out here?"

"_Probably not . . ._" I said, crossing my front legs over. "Let's just say . . . actually, let's not say anything! No, that's stupid. Shut up Blackjack."

"Yes, listen your own advice."

I gave her a steady look. The one that meant 'seriously?' Opal grinned. "What? Afraid to say where you were going? What's so important?"

I sighed. "Well, I'm not really going _anywhere_, so . . . there's nothing to tell."

"You don't get that much sleep, do you?"

"Nope," I said happily, for some reason. [I doubt that's the why.]

Opal groaned, turning away. "Fine. Be that way."

"Well, maybe I will."

Opal spun around so fast I hardly saw it. "This has something to do the night, doesn't it? And the fact that you're Roman and something and—"

"Opal!" I yelled, looking around anxiously. "Geez. No, this has nothing to do with me being Roman and 'something'. I can't go and be Roman all of the sudden. They're all mean, anyway. No, this is . . . cool-down time? Moreover, why do _you _always want to know? Why can you always see me in the dark when I try to hide, but when night comes I'm invisible?"

To prove my point, I willed myself into the dark and then back again. Opal's grin had disappeared. Her mouth was set in a hard line. "That's none of your business."

"Well, mine seems to be plenty of yours." Why we were arguing right now I didn't know. I hadn't meant to start a fight, but Opal's reply sort of . . . sent me off. [Dude, shut up!] Opal's eyes became steely. "If you _ever _want to know, stop asking now."

"Why? You ask about me."

"Because you tell me!" she stormed over, the light around her beginning to glow. "You didn't stop Selene telling me about you when you could have. She would have _listened _to you. She's afraid of you, Blackjack! Everyone is! You just don't _get _it!"

"So you want to know why people are afraid of me?"

"No!" Opal's wings shuffled as the gold on them started to glow like it was searing away the feathers. "I want to be able to _have _my secrets. I can't tell you, don't you get that? More than that, I don't _want _to tell you. Because it means that the gods will hate you _and _fear you. My secrets are twice as bad as yours, okay? So don't ask!"

"You just asked about mine!"

"Because you wouldn't stop me!" Opal was fuming. "If you had asked me not to ask—_told _me not to ask, then I wouldn't have!"

"What kind of a friend does that?"

"A kind of friend that _cares!_"

"How is that caring?"

"The less you know, the less they want you."

"Who does?"

"Everyone," Opal said darkly, cutting off the topic. She stormed away, tail whipping angrily. I stood, dumbstruck, watching her go.

* * *

I should have seen it coming. Boss plays Capture-the-Flag and of course the world goes upside down.

I was kind of expecting it, though . . . [Don't give me that look!]

So, boss and Annabeth had been off playing Capture-the-Flag (because some idiot made them partners) and they fall in a huge hole and _BOOM! _My holidays. Up in smoke. Officially.

So it was time to go and snoop around. I mean, there are only a few people that bother to ask what I'm doing, and that's mainly because they don't know me well enough. Or because they think I'm just so stunningly handsome and have to come and talk to me. [Geez, can't I have some fun once in a while? You get to have heaps of it! . . . Uh-huh. No. I'm not impressed.]

Interestingly, I found that I had been _completely _oblivious to everything going on. For starters there was a new instructor, Quintus, who I didn't like the look of one bit. Sure, he looked nice, but when you _really _looked at him, you could see the difference between him and someone you trusted.

He was always cautious. _Too _cautious, in my opinion. He played with a hellhound (who was nice, actually. Despite how many had tried to kill me. Mrs O'Leary and I are great friends!) [Shut up. Just because she's your dog now doesn't mean you can be possessive.]

So, Quintus had some boxes that said _Triple G Ranch. _I don't know why, but that name tugged at my mind, as if I knew it. But at that same time I _knew _I had never seen it. . . . I didn't understand, is a way to explain.

Then boss was issued the quest. Well, you can assume how well that went well, didn't it? Well, Annabeth was issued the quest but boss went with her—along with goat boy and Tyson the big, friendly, not-so-gentle, pony-loving giant/Cyclops. So yeah.

Underground maze wasn't the half of it, though. And it never would be again.

I believe there's a phrase out there that goes, '_nothing can completely be destroyed'._

* * *

**Ta-da! FINALLY THERE IS A NEW CHAPTER! YAY! **

**So, the action starts to pick up again in the next chapter . . . I'm looking forward to that. ACTION IS DA BEST! **

******EXTRA COOL AWESOME QUESTION******

**What is your favorite moment in PJO?**

**Okay, I have to go, so . . .**

**Until the next chapter,**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**

**o0**


	23. Chapter 23

**WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO yes I know I haven't updated in ages, and for that I am sorry just I am literally drowning in just about everything. -_-**

**And I also had some writer's block. BUT I HAVE RETURNED! HURRAH! EVEN IF IT IS A STUPIDLY SHORT CHAPTER!**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and my words**

* * *

**_Chapter 22: Mazes and Tunnels_**

**Following boss on quests is like cleaning your room. **You _hate _it, but you know it has to be done. So, I had it all planned out to slip away that night, following boss underground, since I'm just _so _keen on the underground, when it finally occurred to me that I was leaving Quintus behind with everyone. [Oi, that is just _uncalled for._]

So, I stood there and watched boss descend into the underground. Chiron didn't look overly thrilled, and I knew that if he knew the barest wisp of what I was doing he'd have me pinned to the roof of the stables by my wings.

So yeah. I had to wait until darkness to follow boss in, and in those few hours Quintus had left and come back about ten times. Every time he seemed to look around; like he was looking for something; looking for me.

I was _sure _the tenth time when he looked around he saw me. His eyes narrowed, and at that moment I saw something very . . . _un_human. His irises seemed to rotate, and then I realised that they were tiny cogs and gears, intricate things put together, crafted from bronze. A small cloud of steam puffed out of his left ear.

And then something even stranger happened.

Opal appeared on the other side of the clearing, forelock tossed over her right eye to hide the glowing, and she looked at him. Quintus looked back, startled by the sound, and then jumped. That was something I hadn't expected. Opal made the same amount of noise as a broken tractor. [Oh no—don't you _dare! _Porkpie! Guido! A little help here!]

6wuqcbuoyg1g73fug7sgu1iwujihfuewhi

[You're writing now, right? Yeah? Good. My wing still hurts, you know. Yeah well shut up, okay? Good. Back to work. Now, where was I . . . ?]

For a moment Opal and Quintus just stared at each other. Opal narrowed her eyes. Slowly, she shook her head. Quintus's mouth dropped open, and I swear I saw more cogs holding up his jaw, but then he turned and sprinted away. I followed his movements as he ran. When I looked back, Opal was right in front of me.

"Holy— A— _what?_" I was too surprised to even think of something to say. Opal glared at me. "Oh yeah, sure, just _sneak away and follow the kid. _Did you ever think to tell _me_?"

"Well . . . no."

"Exactly!" Opal was fuming now. What had I done wrong? I just didn't want her with me while I was being an idiot following boss. That's fair, right? [Shut up.]

"What's wrong with not telling you? I haven't told anyone, anyway!"

"That's your problem!" Opal swished her tail angrily. "You don't tell _anyone. _There are people here that look after you, Blackjack, that _care _about you. Think of Honey—how would she feel if you died out there and didn't even _tell _her?"

"Pretty screwed," I admitted. "But what do I have to gain by telling her?"

"She's your mother!"

"And so what?"

"So _what?! _That's what you say? That's what you think? _You have no idea what it's like to lose someone, Blackjack._ Do you think you know how it feels? Phoenix _died, _but that's not enough, obviously for you. I watched my mother go _insane _from grief for a father I never knew. _I learned stuff then, Blackjack. _You . . . you _idiot! _You take _everything _for granted!"

"I don't! I watched Zoë—"

"Oh, so watching a Hunter die makes you _so _special," Opal snapped. "I saw that. I know she died. I _know _you were there. I. Saw. _Everything_."

"Then why did you turn away? Why did you leave us all behind?" I felt my eyes sting. No one had ever spoken to me like this before. It made something inside me snap. I knew it was true, but some part of me had been in denial long enough to learn how to ignore it. Just no one had ever dared talk to me like this. And talking to Opal made me realise why.

They were afraid. And Opal was not.

Opal clamped her jaw shut. Her ears quivered nervously. She wasn't going to tell me.

"Oh brilliant." Now I was frustrated again. Opal always picked away at me; found the cinches in my armour and always managed to get to me, find out things about me, and refused to tell me anything about _her. _

I pushed past her and headed towards the tunnel. "If you don't plan on coming then by all means stay. I'm not too eager for company."

I could feel Opal's bright eyes glaring at me as I walked towards the tunnel. Then she barrelled into me and sent us tumbling into the Labyrinth.

* * *

**...I ****_did _****say it was short.**

**Well, I have my grip on the story back so hopefully I can upload some more soon. Special thanks to ikb-god-of-turkeys for giving me some creative flare! **

**Okay ... well, until the next chapter!**

**Please R&R,**

**-Owl**


End file.
